How Could You? - Chapter One
A/N at the end.
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. If I did, I would be the happiest person in the whole entire universe! Story is based off of a prompt (head canon #2 from the Young Justice Head Canons Tumblr page ( won't let me post the link)
Dick's POV
I laugh alongside Artemis as we trek through the mall. Babs had just made an amazingly terrible joke that, much to everyone's dismay, was making us crack up in laughter. It was really nice to see Artemis this way, without a permanent scowl on her face, without snapping at Wally for something he did, without worrying about the problems she was having with her family. As the laughter died down I smiled sadly and looked right at her. I couldn't believe how close we had become through both Gotham Academy and team activities.
I start to snicker as I think of our first day of Gotham Academy. I had noticed her because she was the only girl looking uncomfortable in her uniform. She was self-conscious about the length of her skirt as she was desperately trying to stretch the fabric towards her knees. I was hiding behind a pillar not far away, observing the people walking around campus and I immediately recognized her as my new teammate. A grin stretched across my face. The student liaison Bette Kane started to talk to her and, before she knew what was happening, I had snuck up behind her, phone in hand.
"We'll laugh about this someday," I'd said as I'd thrown my arm over her shoulder and, smiling, I snapped the photo. I sprinted away quickly, desperately trying to hold in my signature laugh that I knew she'd recognize. The puzzled look on her face was hilarious it almost made me burst out again.
When I returned to my space behind the pillar, Barbara Gordon a.k.a. Babs gave me a look and said, "What was that about, Dick?" I just grinned and said,
"Nothing."
Bette said something to her as Artemis glared in my general direction, so obviously pissed anyone else would've been scared out of their shorts. She angrily said something to Bette before they walked away together. Good thing she didn't know my secret ID: otherwise, I'd never hear the end of it.
I couldn't believe that it'd been two years since we met. I stare at Artemis thoughtfully, totally ignoring my guy friends Andrew and Eric. She chats happily with Babs and Bette, a carefree look in her eyes. You'd never think that her entire family is or was a villain, and dangerous villains at that. Artemis had such a strong sense of justice: it was hard to fathom her family being committed to evil. I was proud to say she was my friend. She was such a bad-ass, even without superpowers. Eric shoves my shoulder and I nearly tripped over my own feet. As they laugh I mumble, "So much for my acrobatic grace."
We enter the nearest store and the girls go crazy, grabbing at clothes and squealing before rushing into the change room. Awkwardly, we hang around by the store's entrance, not sure what we should be doing. Eric playfully punches me in the arm. "So," he starts out, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You got a thing for Artemis?"
A flush rises to my cheeks and my cerulean eyes start blinking frantically. "N-no!" I stutter. Andrew laughs and rolls his eyes.
"If you don't then why are you blushing?"
I stare ahead, trying to calm myself. "B-because I've never thought of her that way. Dude, she's one of my best friends. It's impossible for me to feel that way about her!" Andrew shrugs
"Whatever you say, man."
After what seems like hours, the girls emerge from the change room and go to purchase their items. When she's done, Artemis walks over to wait with us. She grabs a pair of cheap black sunglasses from the rack. "Alright, now who should sport some new shades?" Artemis says jokingly. She holds them up for us to see, moving them in front of our eyes as if judging who they would look best on.
My heart starts to pound in my chest as she passes the sunglasses close to my eyes. They look almost exactly like the ones I wear when I'm in my civvies at Mount Justice. Panic claws at my throat. I don't know what to do for once. If I tell her not to pick me, everyone'll think I'm a bad sport and that will only make her want to put them on me more. On the other hand, if she does put them on, I risk my secret ID being blown in the middle of a public area. My brain was shutting down. I try to keep my expression humorous though I'm dying inside. C'mon, Dick! Just think! I've almost formulated a Batman-worthy escape plan when the sunglasses are shoved onto my face.
"I guess it's gonna be Dick!" She says happily, her eyes closed and a smile stretched across her face. I gulp. Through the dark lenses I see her slowly open up her eyes to admire her handiwork. A gasp escapes her lips. "Oh. My. God. Dick, you're…?"
There's no denying it.
She recognizes me.
She knows who I am.
God, Batman is going to kill me!
A wave of rage washes across her face, and, with a roar of anger, she tackles me to the floor. Racks of clothes tumble to the ground as I kick, trying to get out of her grasp without going all Robin on her as she straddles me. The sunglasses fly off my face at the first punch. Andrew and Eric are trying to pry Artemis off of me but when they come too close she punches them too. They cry out in pain. Who knew that girl had such a punch? I hear the cashier calling for security, but all I can think of is the pain that blossoms every time her hand makes contact with my face. I can already feel the skin around my eyes start to swell and bruise. When I squint up at her, tears are streaming down her face.
"How," Punch. "Could," Punch. "You?" she screams as she continues to pound at my face. I've given up trying to fight back. Blood drips from a small cut by the corner of my mouth. The scary thing is I understand her pain. I lied to her. I made it seem like I was only one person, someone who would never have any secrets to hide, definitely not someone who was a superhero in their spare time. I whimpered a little as her fist made contact with my bruising eye again but I didn't cry. I was someone who she thought she could depend on and I let her down. I allow her to punch me. I don't care anymore if my face was bruised and black. I don't care that Bruce and Alfred and the rest of the team were going to worry. I don't care that Batman would be pissed. I let her release her anger, the anger that I had caused. My heart was breaking. I never meant for this to happen. I thought that when I became Robin I could stop things like this from happening, stop people from feeling the pain. But pain is never going to go away. It's always going to be there, like how you can depend on a mosquito to show up and bite you during the summer.
Suddenly, Artemis freezes mid-punch. I cringe and wait for her fist to make contact once again. She drops her fist and buries her face into my chest. A look of surprise crosses my face and the faces of everyone around us. She begins to sob into my Gotham Academy uniform, soaking the fabric with her tears. "What the hell, Dick? How could you?" she cries out. "I trusted you!" With all the energy I have left, I place my hand on her back and slowly start to rub. I speak slowly and soothingly to her as she cries.
"I'm sorry, Artemis." I whisper, keeping my voice so low that only she can hear it, and that I'm certain of. "I-I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the truth. Trust me I really, really wanted to. But Bat—Bruce said no. I'm so sorry." I smile gently. "Just, try to stay whelmed, okay?"
She stops crying for a moment and lifts her head to look into my eyes, brown meeting blue. With a sniffle she whispers back, "Oh God so that means Batman is…" I nod. She runs her hands threw her hair in exasperation. Then, frowning and blushing, she asks, "D-does Wally know?" I nod again. She wraps me into a hug. "Oh Dick, I-I'm so sor—"
A pair of arms pulls Artemis roughly off me. She cries out as her hands are held behind her back and are secured with a zip-tag. I hadn't even heard the pair of security officers coming. That was a first. She squeezes her eyes shut. A single tear runs down her cheek. It must be hurting her. I struggle to my feet. Eric and Andrew immediately come to my side, swinging my arms over their shoulders to support me as I stand. I touch my hand to my face and wince. Everything hurts, even where she sat on top of me.
"We apologize for what happened, son. This won't happen again." They turn and begin to briskly escort her out of the store. Artemis looks back from over her shoulder. Her eyes plead with me, begging me to say something, to stop them from taking her away.
It takes forever for me to find my voice again, and when I speak I sound hoarse. "Wait," I croak out. The officers don't hear me. I move out of Andrew and Eric's grip and stumble forward. My energy is fading. People don't really think about it, but having someone beat the shit out of you takes more energy than you'd think. "Wait!" I say, a little louder this time.
But it's too late.
I sigh and run my fingers through my ebony hair, biting my lower lip. I watch as the white-clad officers push the vibrant blonde in front of them. She wasn't fighting back; so un-Artemis like. If only I knew where they were taking her. I could do something. I could give them a false explanation. I could get her out.
"C'mon bro. Let's leave." Eric takes my arm and gently pulls me out of the store in the opposite direction. Andrew, Babs, Bette and the other girls follow, whispering amongst themselves. They must be so confused. I look over my shoulder one last time, trying to get one last peek at where she was headed. But it doesn't matter.
Artemis is gone.
A/N: Nakama no otaku kon'nichiwa! Hello fellow geeks! This is my first Young Justice fic and I'm really excited to be sharing it with you. I was originally going to make this into a one-shot but had way to much inspiration for a one-shot so this will be a multi-chapter fic, though I'm not sure how many chapters it will have. I hope you enjoyed. Please review! Constructive criticism is always welcome! Anyway, this is longer than I thought it was going to be. Happy reading and stay asterous! ;)