I'm not dead!
I just want to say that I'm sorry about Something Unexpected, I have horrible writer's block for that story. I've had the chapter half written for the past year and a half. I have the ending planned and I'm starting to write it out. I don't know what is about it, I just can't write it.
This is one of 4 stories that i came up with while thinking about chapter 6. I will finish Something Unexpected, it won't beat me!
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this story.
Red Arrow felt it was about time he stopped by the cave. Looking for the original Roy was harder than he thought. All the leads he had ran dry a while ago and he starting to drive himself crazy coming up with his own. So he thought maybe the team had a lead or at least an idea. It wouldn't him kill him to ask.
Recognized Red Arrow B 06
"Hello Roy." Of course the first one to greet him was Kaldur. It's always nice to have one friend on your side. "What brings you here?"
"Hey dude." Standing behind Kaldur was Robin. He had grown quite a bit since he last saw him, Robin was almost up to Kaldur's shoulder.
"Hey, so uh. I wanted to ask you a few things."
"We haven't run into the league of shadows lately, if that's what you're asking." Robin said.
"No not that." Now was not the time to think about.. her. "I ran out of leads for finding the original Roy. I was wondering if you guys had anything I could use."
Kaldur sighed. "I'm looking into Ra's al gul at the moment, but it could take some time."
"In the meantime," Robin appeared at his side with a smirk on his face. "You could rest here for a bit. You know take a load off."
"I don't think so. I need to-"
"Come on dude. You gotta stay whelmed and right now you're over it." Something about that stupid word Robin had made up brought a slight smile to Roy's face. Maybe it was childishness that he still had despite everything.
Roy shrugged. "Why not?"
"I will continue to research a possible lead. Please relax old friend."
"Will do." Roy replied as he let Robin drag into the next room.
Being dragged into the living room, Roy spotted Conner on the couch watching.. was that just static? M'gann and Wally were in the kitchen. M'gann kept checking the oven and Wally for some reason had his head down as though he were asleep. M'gann had placed a plate of cookies in front of him to eat but he ignored it. Now that is bizarre.
"Hey Miss M, we've got one more for dinner. Look who's joining us." Robin said.
"Oh Roy, it's nice to see you again." M'gann said, holding her hands together. "I hope you like baked chicken."
M'gann was such a sweet heart. It was almost hard for him to suspect her of being a traitor. Almost. No matter how sweet, his friends' protection came first.
"I do. I can't wait to try it." She smiled brightly at him before going back to the oven.
Roy turned his attention to the other red head, who still had his head down. There was a plate of snicker doodles in front of him and he wasn't eating them? Something was definitely wrong here.
"Hey, what's with you?" Roy asked. Wally finally picked his head off the counter to look at him. He looked bad, really bad. His eyes were glossy and his skin paler than usual. Is he sick? "Are you alright?"
"Hey Roy, you staying for dinner?" Wally ignored his question with one of his own. How out of it was he that he didn't hear Robin practically announce his attendance to the whole room? Maybe he was just really hungry?
"Cool, cookies." Wally reached for the plate in front of him and ate a few cookies. Roy rolled his eyes. Yeah, he was probably just hungry.
"So where is everyone else?"
Conner crossed his arms, his eyes still glued to the static. "Zatanna is in the library practicing her magic. Raquel is in her room and I think Artemis," Roy noticed Wally sigh at her name. "is in her room too." Conner finished.
"Dinner's ready!" M'gann exclaimed. They all looked past her into the kitchen and saw a huge assortment of food. A large baked chicken, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes, biscuits and for dessert, of course, more cookies.
'Guys, dinner is ready.' Roy heard in his head.
'Yes! I'm starving." Raquel cheered.
'Gnimoc. I mean coming." Zatanna said.
'Okay.' Kaldur replied.
'Um Artemis, will you be joining us?'
'Sure.' Was all she said. Why did she sound so quiet? I guess maybe she's tired.
Everyone plied into the kitchen, made their plate sat either in the living or on a bar stool. All except Artemis who wandered in after a few minutes.
Roy turned to her and his jaw almost dropped. She looked terrible, her eyes stormy gray eyes now dull. She was still in her Gotham Academy uniform but it was disheveled like she either slept or trained in it.
'What happened to her?' Roy thought. 'Was there a mission gone wrong or something?'
Artemis turned the corner, about to greet the team when she froze. Wally, who had finally started eating his food, looked at her and put his chicken down. Roy watched as they looked at each other uncomfortably, not saying anything. Awkward tension had filled the room, the others tried to ignore it. Wally had looked guilty for some reason and looked as if he were going to say something but then Artemis broke their eye contact and turned to M'gann.
"Um M'gann, uh thanks. But I'm gonna head home, my mom wants me home early today." Roy could tell that was made up on the spot.
"But this was supposed to be team bonding night, remember? You said we were finally going to watch 'Death Note'."
"I-I know. Sorry, I just need to go." Artemis said before swiftly going down the hall toward the zeta tubes. Wally watched her until she disappeared down the hall. He sighed and pushed his plate away.
"Sorry, M'gann. I have to go too. I just.. lost my appetite." Wally said, getting out of chair.
"Okay, I'll wrap it up for you?" She tried.
Wally shrugged. "Sure, I'll eat it later." Putting his hands in his pockets, he waited to see the bright light of the Zeta tube fade before walking toward them.
Everyone was quiet after that, you can still feel the tension lingering throughout the room.
After watching all of that, Roy just had to know. "What the hell was that?"
"So what the hell was that?" Roy repeated. After a somewhat quiet dinner, M'gann and Conner had started washing the dishes. Zatanna and Raquel started to play on their PS 4 while Kaldur relaxed on the couch and watched them play. Robin had pulled Roy aside to answer some questions.
"Wally and Artemis broke up." Robin answered.
"I figured that. Why?"
"They," Robin gestured to the rest of the team. "don't know. Neither one told them why, just that something happened and now its over." Robin looked down. "Wally told me they had a fight and Artemis broke up with him." Roy's eyes widened. She had just crossed a line. "Wally comes here everyday just to see Artemis but whenever she's here, the rare times she is, she stays in her room to avoid him. As Kaldur puts it, everyone should mind their business but M'gann is worried about Artemis but she won't open up to her or anybody for that matter."
"What did he do?"
"I don't know." Robin put a hand on his chin. "Wally didn't tell me much. He said that he made a mistake and now he's paying for it."
"Well that's dramatic." Roy rolled his eyes.
"That's what I said."
"What? So now she cuts off all connection with him and ruins the team dynamic. Who does she think is? Che-" He cut himself off, covering the last part with a cough. Robin raised a brow but ignored Roy's weird moment.
"I'd like to know more but-"
"Why bother? She broke Wally's heart and that's all we need to know."
"Dude, hang on. We should know Artemis' side before you say anything." Robin put hands up in defense. "She must have had a reason."
"I'm going to pay her a visit, she better have a good one." Roy said as he stormed over to the Zeta tubes. Robin sighed, shrugged and went to find his friend.
Roy stomped down a brightly lit hallway, looking for the correct apartment number. He knocked once found it and heard a sigh on the other side, the door opened to reveal Artemis.
"What?"
"A polite person would invite me in, maybe even say hello." Artemis glared at him. "Just let me in." Roy snarled. Artemis rolled her eyes and stepped aside. She closed the door after him and lead him to her couch.
"Can I get you anything?" She said with a monotone voice. Roy shook his head. "Listen, I haven't heard from Jade in a while so-"
"I'm not here for that." Roy quickly cut her off.
Artemis crossed her arms. "Then what do you want?"
"Why did you break up with him?" Nice and straight to the point. She raised a brow.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Wally. You guys have been going out for awhile now and you just dump him out of the blue. How could you do that to him?" Roy started to rant. He didn't care if he and the blonde had made amends, this was his friend, who was hurting because of her. He was going to find out why. "Don't you know your affect on him? He doesn't even eat as much anymore." Roy stood right in front of Artemis, looking down at her with irradiated eyes. "Tell me why you did it blondie."
Artemis narrowed her eyes, not at all intimidated. "And who told you that?"
Was she playing games now? "Wally told Robin and he told me."
"Well, Wally lied to both of you. None of that is true." She growled.
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because Wally dumped me!" She snapped at him. "He broke my heart and didn't even tell me why!" Then she turned her back to him and spoke quietly. "I guess it just wasn't working for him."
Wally broke up with her? Last he checked Wally was head over heels for this girl. What suddenly caused him to change his mind? And why did he lie about it?
"Oh." Roy backed off and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I-"
"Forget it." Artemis said as her phone went off. When she pulled it out, Roy could see it was Wally calling. Before he say anything about it, she had silenced the ringtone. "He was probably calling to get his stuff back." She turned to face him. "Are we done here? Cause I'd like to go back to bed."
It was then that Roy finally took in how she looked. Wrinkled up pajamas, messy hair, which would make sense seeing how she was in bed, but it was 8 pm on a Friday night. She must've been in bed since she got home. Her eyes were half closed, probably from lack of sleep, decent sleep at least. She seemed to constantly hug herself as if giving herself support in a way she couldn't do on her own now. This was the slight a of girl who'd been dumped and pretty bad too.
Roy looked around the room, pretty much anywhere but her. He felt kinda bad now, over the past year and some change he's grown to respect Artemis. Now he was accusing her of something she clearly had no control over and with no reason why.
"Sorry." Artemis looked down. "I mean it. It sucks now but.. it'll get better?" He didn't know what to say.
Artemis stared at him for a moment. Then she smiled a little, raising a brow. "Thanks for trying."
"Right, good night Artemis." He reached for the door knob, when he turned back to her. "Sorry." He said again. Artemis nodded and he left without another word.
Roy set his sites on Wally as he walked down a familiar street in Central City. He knocked on his friend's door and wasn't surprised to see the boy wonder answer.
"Hey, uh how'd it go?" Robin asked.
"I need to talk to Wally." Roy demanded. He had been lied to by his friend and accused someone who was just as in the dark as he was. He didn't like being lied to and worse he didn't like looking like an idiot. Robin stepped aside to let him in. Roy went straight past him and was about to go upstairs when he realized Robin was still behind him. "Alone."
Robin sighed. "I'll be down here." He plopped on the couch in the living room.
Roy barged into Wally's room. Startling Wally so bad he nearly fell of his chair and the books that were in his lap fell on the floor. "H-hey man, whats up?" He went to pick up his books from the floor.
"Not much, what are you up to?" Roy crossed his arms.
"Homework and a take home test for Spanish." Roy could tell Wally was nervous, he started tapping his foot. "Big mistake right? Everyone's gonna use google translate."
"Your parents?"
"Out for dinner at a friend's house."
"Ahh." They sat in silence for a moment, Wally's foot tapping was the only sound in the room. "So why did you lie to Robin?"
"Lie about what?" Roy gave him a look. He had had enough, if Wally wanted to fix things, and it clearly looked like he did, he had to start by being honest. Under Roy's glaring eye, Wally caved. "I just wanted time to think about this and Robin wouldn't stop nagging until I told him what happened. So I just said whatever would get him off my back so I had more time to think without him yelling at me. He took it as she broke up with me, cause I never said that."
Roy sighed. That had to be one of the dumbest excuses he had ever heard. Wally's always been kind of weird so he guessed it had made sense to him at the time.
"Just tell me the truth. What happened that caused you to break it off with Artemis?" Wally didn't speak, Roy could see that he started to nibble at his lower lip. He never used to do that before. Maybe it was a trait Artemis had left behind. "Come on, you can talk to me. I won't judge you.. too much." Roy shrugged. Wally remained quiet. "Wally-"
"She told me she loved me." Roy stopped and looked at Wally. He was staring hard at his homework. "At first I thought she was kidding but she looked so nervous."
"Oh." Was all Roy could say. He sat down on Wally's bed and watched Wally try to think of what to say.
"She even said it was okay if I didn't love her back, she just wanted me to know." Wally placed all his work on his desk and started to shake his head. "I don't know why but I just panicked, I didn't know what say. My first thought was to say thank you, but what kind of answer is that?"
"So what did you do?"
"I just nodded and I guess I looked surprised because she was laughing a bit when she hugged me. I was so confused on the walk back to the Zeta tube."
"What confused you? What did you think about?"
"I don't know. My mind was shot. I just had a strong edge to run."
"Run where?"
"Anywhere. I just needed to get out of there, to think. I wanted to at least tell her how I felt about her but instead I told her it wasn't working it out. That she was a great person and that I'm idiot. Basically the 'it's not you, it's me' speech." Roy stayed quiet. "She didn't say anything but I know she was mad. She just stepped away from me and left." Wally looked at Roy. "I haven't spoken to her since and this was two weeks ago."
"And you haven't tried talking to her?"
"I try, she avoids me. She doesn't answer my texts or calls." Roy remembered when seeing Artemis silence his call. "This was the first time I've seen her at the cave in a while. I didn't even know she was there to be honest. Not to mention every time I worked up the nerve to say something, she leaves."
Roy could honestly say he wasn't expecting this. A fight? Sure. Jealousy? Possibly. But love? He didn't think they were that serious. Then again he hasn't really been around much. Searching for the original Roy had taken up so much of his time, he couldn't do certain things anymore. Catching up with his friends were one of them. Roy couldn't even deal with his own relationship problems, if his flings with Jade even counted. How could he help Wally?
Roy looked up from his folded hands to look at Wally. He looked so confused, so crestfallen. He couldn't let his friend stay this way.
"Wally, I want you to think all the things you love about Artemis."
"Okay. She's funny and beautiful. She's very intelligent-"
"No not her qualities. What do you personally love about her?" Wally leaned back in his chair.
".. I like that she doesn't mind that I'm not as fast as Flash, she doesn't care. She never lets me get away with anything. She doesn't mind the way I eat, sometimes she feeds me and thinks its cute. Can you believe that?" Wally let out a airy chuckle. "I like that she's a total badass and doesn't need powers to be one. She always has my back, mad at me or not." Roy smirked at his friend getting lost in his thoughts. "I love that smile she has when she first sees me and its only for me. Even though its hard for her sometimes, she opens up to me about her past. That determined look in her eye when she's locked on a target. The way she holds my hand when no ones looking. I love the fact that she actually fell in love with me." The smile that had been building on Wally's face, had faded. "But I don't know why I don't feel the same."
"You've always been one for denial, Wally." Roy explained. "You're just confused about how you feel at the moment."
"How would you know? Have you ever had a relationship last more than a few months?" Wally asked.
Roy stared at his feet. "I get it, trust me." Wally didn't question him. "A year is long time to spend with someone. You know you have deep feelings for her, right?" Wally nodded. "But you're not sure if you love her. Did you want to end it?"
"Of course not."
"Then tell her that."
"But-"
"Look, she already said it's okay that you didn't love her, so what's the problem?
"I just feel that she deserves to have someone love her and I want to tell her that."
"And you will, eventually. But right now what's worse, not telling her you love her or not being with her at all?" Wally stared at his forgotten homework. Roy was right, he didn't want to admit it but he was.
"How would I tell her? If you haven't noticed she avoids me."
Roy thought for a moment. "It's raining in Gotham right now." Wally gave him a look and shook his head. "It's just like in the movies. Climb up her fire escape in the rain or throw some pebbles at her window."
"Or I could just knock on her door, you know I think you've been watching too many of M'gann's movies. Besides Artemis hates those kinds of things, she thinks they're lame." Wally explained.
"It's not the action that'll get her attention, its the effort you put in to get it."
"Sure, I guess." Wally scratched his head. "But I'm just gonna knock on her door like a normal person."
"Since when have you ever been 'normal'." Roy used air-quotes and Wally glared at him. "Come on, it'll be romantic." Wally rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just make sure she knows how you feel."
Wally nodded, already on his feet and rushed to his door. He put a hand on the door frame but didn't turn back. "Thanks Roy."
"Anytime Kid." Roy crossed his arms and watched Wally leave.
It was currently 11:45 at night when Wally stood in front of Artemis' front door. He stood there for a good five minutes, trying to gather up the courage to knock. "I can do this." He raised his fist to knock. "I can't do this." He lightly hit his head against the door before he realized what had happened. When he was about to run for the hills, the door opened to reveal Artemis' mother, Paula.
"Hello Wally."
"H-hi Ms. Paula. Uh can I talk to Artemis?" Paula smiled softly and looked to her left where Wally heard a distant whisper.
"Artemis, its for you." She rolled away from the door, leaving it ajar. Wally heard a low groan and clenched his fists even tighter.
Artemis walked up to the door, still in her pjs, with a scowl on her face. "A-Artemis, listen I-" Was all Wally was able to say before she slammed the door in face. "Yeah, I expected that."
"Ugh," Wally groaned to the ceiling. "Damn it Roy."
Wally threw on his hood as he climbed the fire escape. Unfortunately, the rain grew heavier and had started to pour by the time he got back outside. Wally sighed. "'Perfect."
He finally got to Artemis' slightly ajar window when his heart started to race. Her light was on, as he peered through the cracked window he could see the blonde laying on her bed, typing away at her laptop and facing away from the window.
'Here goes nothing.' Wally felt through both his pockets and realized he had forgotten to pick up some pebbles. He face-palmed, well its not like she hear over the rain anyway. He took a deep breath and knocked on her window.
'I can't believe her. I told her no, i said don't answer it. How hard do I have to shake my head for her to get the picture?' Artemis glared at the screen, a knock interrupted her thoughts. A knock coming from.. the window?
Artemis turned to see her now ex-boyfriend smiling sheepishly and waving to her from outside her window. She scowled at him and walked toward the window. "I don't want to talk to you." She said as she was about to close the binds.
"Wait! Please Artemis, just listen to what I have to say."
"I heard enough. I get it, you don't want -"
"I'm sorry!" He was quick to say. "I was a complete jerk and I made a mistake." Artemis paused. "Artemis, I didn't want to hurt you like that. I was just shocked. I mean how could someone as amazing as you fall for someone like me?"
Artemis sighed. "Wally, you're a great guy." She crossed her arms but didn't look at him. "Why are you here?"
"I wanted to explain what I was trying to say two weeks ago." He gripped the railing.
"I think I understood enough from your babbling."
"Exactly babbles. I didn't get to say I wanted to. So can you please let me in, my socks are soaked. You know how irritaing this is." He went to lean against the railing to adjust his shoes but ended up slipping and falling backwards towards the staircase, hitting his head slightly on the railing.
He sat up and saw Artemis holding a hand over her mouth to keep the laughter in and failing at it. She started to laugh at him, he really missed her laugh. Wally carefully went back to his position, rubbing the sore spot on his head. When he looked back up, he watched as she started to move her sister's old bed. Then she walked toward him and opened the window fully, stepping aside to let him in. Wally's eyes widened as he stared her.
"Well, are you coming in or not?" This snapped Wally out of his trance. He slowly climbed through the window to avoid falling again. Once inside, he saw that Artemis had returned to her bed and looked at the floor. He looked down and saw the puddle he had made on her floor.
"Uh, sorry." Artemis shrugged it off and turned her back to him.
It wasn't over, he still had to explain himself. But this time she was willing to listen.
"Artemis," He took off his jacket and rested it on her window sill. "I didn't mean to break up with you." She didn't say anything. "I got nervous and you know when I get nervous I put my foot in my mouth and keep rambling." She was still silent. "I-I freaked out okay? I didn't know what to say, I wasn't expecting that."
Artemis sighed. "Why did I listen to M'gann? I knew I shouldn't have told you."
"No, its not that. Your timing was great, I just wasn't.. mature enough to handle it? Is that even the right word?" Artemis shrugged. "See you don't even know."
"So, whats your point?" She finally turned around.
"I don't want you think that I lead you on or something because this last year meant a lot to me, you mean a lot to me. I want you to know that I never felt this way about anyone before. You're always on my mind and you don't know just how much I care about you. I have no idea if it's love or not but I want to be with you." Wally stopped to take a breath. "Isn't caring about you enough?
"Yes," She stood up to face him. "and I told you that before. Try actually listening to me for once." She started wringing her fingers together. "Don't pressure yourself to say it. You don't have to."
"But you deserve an answer." He took a slow step closer.
"And you gave me one. You don't love me and that's fine because you care about me and you don't want to end it. Look, I didn't say it to force you say it back, I just wanted to tell you. It's okay that you don't feel that way yet. If I'm not worried about it, than you shouldn't be either."
They stood there, neither knowing what to say next. Wally leaned in closer, noticing that Artemis wasn't moving away, he hesitantly put his hands on her cheeks and tilted her head up, making her meet his glaze. Through half-lidded eyes, he could see that she was just as unsure as he was for where to go next. So he took a chance and slowly leaned in for a simple kiss, to which Artemis returned the same cautious, yet eager feeling.
Wally pulled away but stayed close to her. "I'm sorry." Artemis studied him with soft eyes, Wally's shoulders slumped as he continued. "I know I messed up, i hurt you and I didn't mean to. I was caught off guard and I said the wrong thing. I care about you a lot. I'm gonna get there eventually, so.. can you wait for me?"
Artemis had gone from biting her lip to struggling to hold back a smile. A chuckle left her mouth along with a wide smile. "It was so romantic, until you ruined it with that corny line."
Wally chuckled softly. "Give me a break, I'm trying my best here." Their slight laughter died down, but small smiles remained on their faces. "Be my girlfriend again?" Her smiled widened as she nodded and leaned in to give him another kiss. This one was longer, more passionate as it expressed the longing they both felt. When they let go, Wally move his hands from her face to wrap around her lower back, pulling her in for a hug, which she returned. "I'm sorry." he said again.
"It's okay." She sighed out, tightening her grip on him.
Recognized Red Arrow B06
Was there anyway to come here without revealing his presence to all of happy harbor? Roy walked into the training/debriefing room looking for any sign of his alantian friend. 'I hope he found some leads.' he thought as he traveled deeper into the cave in search for Kaldur.
When he walked in he saw Artemis and Wally sitting on the couch but turned to face the kitchen, talking to Robin, who was in said kitchen. All three looked to be having a normal conversation. As Roy approached then he noticed Artemis had her hand settled on Wally's and he had no intention of moving. Such a different contrast from when he was last here.
"Hey Roy, didn't expect you back so soon." Wally waved.
"Yeah well, I never got the information I came here for in the first place. Kaldur here?"
"I think he went for a swim to relax. Maybe check the hanger?" Artemis shurrged. Roy nodded.
"Kaldur's probably there, it helps clear his mind. Speaking of, I gotta go too. I still need some research for our next mission." Robin said, walking toward the hallway. As he walked past Roy, he whispered: "I don't know what you did, but thanks." He then offered Roy a smile that the older boy returned.
Before walking out himself, Roy turned back to see Artemis and Wally had turned back to watch tv. Wally's arm stretched across her shoulders and Artemis leaned her head on his shoulder.
Roy smiled to himself before leaving the young couple alone.
Walking to the hanger, the red head let his mind wonder back to his friend and his girlfriend. Artemis was clearly the more understanding sister, Wally had gotten lucky there. Artemis didn't want to play mind games with him, she knew what she wanted and wanted to make that clear. For the most part at least.
Maybe Jade just liked to keep things interesting by keeping him guessing but just takes it overboard? Maybe it was a sign that Jade wanted more but liked a challenge instead of putting her feelings out in the open? Or maybe she just didn't like talking about her feelings at all? Then again who does? Well the next time he sees her he had to at least try to tell her how he felt and thanks to Wally, he definitely knows what he feels for the anti-hero.
His phone vibrated in his pocket, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was a text, from Jade?
'I'll be waiting at your safehouse, we need to talk. Roytoy.'
Who knows she might just feel the same way.