The hat was sitting there on his desk next to other papers listed CLASSIFIED. She was so tempted. She'd heard all the stories that only mobsters wore fedoras. Especially black ones those were the signature of W.W. Yet she found herself almost being pulled by a magnet towards the thing. Her hand made contact with the soft fabric and she stood in front of the mirror in the bookcase. She lifted the fedora to her head it sat neatly on top of her long straight blonde hair.
She liked it. She thought it looked nice and interesting. She imagined herself with a machine gun in hand and a sack full of money in the other. The notorious W.W. at her side. She imagined him tall and built with stark black hair and eyes so crystal blue they belonged in a museum.
"Artemis?!" A voice interrupted her fantasy.
"Uncle. I was just-"
"You were wearing the hat that belongs to a mobster." He said snatching the thing off her head. "This hat fell off of W.W. himself. You cannot wear it. People could get the wrong idea. Now go get ready for the party. It's in an hour."
"Yes, uncle." Artemis said unwillingly. She hated parties and social events they were always meant to put her on a pedestal as the beautiful and enchanting and perfectly single niece of Oliver Queen, billionaire. They were a way for him to assess potential husbands for her.
She walked to her big bedroom in the big mansion. She opened her huge walk-in closet she changed from the plain blouse and plain black skirt to a dazzling green dress with one side strap. It went down to her ankles and flowed in the slightest of breezes. She spent almost an hour trying to tame the giant mess of hair that could rival Rapunzel. She finally decided to just leave it down. She put on a little bit of makeup. And walked outside of her room and was greeted by the sight of many many people in the house. She was ushered to the tops of the stairs to be introduced by the butler.
"Ms. Artemis Crock!" He announced and everyone clapped as she walked down to mingle and greet. She glimpsed her uncle chatting it up with Dinah his most recent love interest. She hoped this one would last she liked Dinah very much.
"Artemis." Said an unmistakably cocky and annoying voice behind her. She spun around and was greeted by the devilish face of Dick Grayson. He was 18, two years younger than her.
"Grayson. Enjoying the party?" She asked out of courtesy.
"Not yet." He said in his general creepy way. Then he left her standing there. Her uncle made her dance with four eligible and perfect fine men. But each one was just a chore for her.
As she sat down with a plate of fruit a big and muscular man stormed in and used the giant machine gun in his hand to shoot the ceiling. Many people screamed and dropped to the floor. Artemis however bolted up from her seat in excitement and anticipation. And smaller man walked in wearing a cocky smile and a black fedora that covered his face. He wore a mask over his eyes and had a gun holstered to his belt and a knife sheathed on his belt too.
"Please ladies and gentlemen calm down. No one will get hurt as long as I get what I came for." He said his voice layered with a thick New York accent.
Some whispering started as they wondered what he could want. He unholstered his gun and shot one at the ceiling causing more screaming and more people trying to get closer to the floor
"I never said you could talk." He said. He scanned the room and his eyes landed on the still standing Artemis. He walked over to her. "Hello, beautiful. Why don't you come with me now?" He said.
"What if I refuse?" She countered. He chuckled and held his gun up to the head of one of the women on the ground.
"Then I'll shoot clean through her head." He said with a wicked grin on his face. Artemis looked down at the woman. She hated that woman but decided as her uncle was watching her and always wanted her to do the right thing to go.
"No. Don't I'll go with you." She said stepping forward.
"Good." W.W. said taking her arm and leading her out. He lead her to a black limo with tinted and bulletproof windows. He then proceeded to take off his fedora, mask, and his accent disappeared. He was a lean, but obviously muscular man with bright red hair and sparkling green eyes that were even better gems than the ones she'd imagined were his eyes. "Now, miss Crock, I assume some introductions are in order. I am W.W."
"You?!" Artemis questioned. He looked nothing like she'd imagined but yet she was even more pleased with the real version.
"Yes, me. Why does everyone react this way?" He said with an exasperated voice. "Now listen, miss Crock. You better not be any trouble. Or I may be forced to do some things I don't want to."
"Of course not, I wouldn't want to put you in any uncomfortable situations." She said her eyes drifting to the hat. He noticed where her eyes had wandered.
"Do you want to try it on?" He said calmly. She kept her eyes on the fedora and slowly nodded. He picked it up and handed it to her. She placed it gingerly on her hair. She could feel the warmth from the hat that came from him wearing it. "Nice. Suits you much better than anything your uncle could buy for you." He said ogling her.
"Thanks." She said and a devilish idea popped into her head and her eyes took on a mischievous twinkle. W.W recognized this twinkle for he'd had it many times but he didn't know why she'd have one.
She slid closer to him until their legs almost touched. She slid her hand over his thigh and grasped his inner thigh. Her other hand reached over and grabbed his arm her head sliding in to the crook of his neck and her lips pressed lightly against his neck. The light pink lipstick leaving a mark. W.W's whole body went tense as her hand on his thigh slowly slid up. Her lips still making fluttery patterns on his neck. She lowered her lips to his collarbone and let her teeth lightly bite down. This elicited a shiver from W.W that made her heart pound faster. His hand softly landed on her hip and his thumb made light circles that made her let out a small gasp.
The limo jerked to a stop and W.W pushed Artemis off of him and took back the fedora. He handcuffed her hands together. He nervously straightened his tie and opened his door leading the girl into an abandoned factory. Or at least she'd always thought it was abandoned. He placed her in a chair not to gently inside an office with two chairs including the one Artemis was in and a large desk covered in papers.
"What am I supposed to do just stay cuffed in this chair. How's about you take these off me and we can have a little fun." Artemis said a sly smirk gracing her lips.
"I don't like mixing business with pleasure." W.W said staring down at some papers on his desk.
"Than what was that in the limo?" Artemis asked slyly.
"Business. You came on to me. I did nothing to you." He said although Artemis couldn't help thinking about his hand on her hip and his thumb making those small circles.
"Right. Of course." She said deciding to drop it.
The rotary phone sitting on the table rang and W.W picked it up. Artemis could hear a man's voice saying 'sir, he's here' a little agitated she noticed.
"Send him in." And then there was a knock on the door. "Ah. My inside man is here. Come in!" He said first to Artemis than the door.
"Inside man?" Artemis asked intrigued.
"Is that what he's calling me now? Wally? I thought I was your right hand man." Said that distinctly cocky voice again. It was Grayson, but Artemis was more interested in what he'd just called W.W.
"Wally? Your name is really Wally? Yikes your parents must have hated you." Artemis said. Wally rolled his eyes.
"That's nothing his middle name is Rudolph." Grayson said continuing the taunting.
"You're pulling my leg. They really gave him that middle name?"
"I would never." Grayson said sitting in the other chair.
"I thought you two hated each other." Wally interrupted them.
"Where would you get a strange idea like that?" They both said at the same time.
"When Dick told me he hated you and you hated him back."
"I don't remember that conversation." Dick said playing innocent.
"Of course you don't. Just send the ransom note already."
"Why didn't you just say so?" Dick said walking out of the room.
Wally sighed and realized this blonde firecracker was going to be quite a hassle.