Oh my golly jee! Thank you so much for reviewing and/or favoriting! It made me super happy to see such a response. You all had great comments, and all I can say is that I hope you enjoy this chapter too*crosses fingers*
Oh, also I do not own Young Justice or any of it's characters yadda yadda. On with the story.
*edited on 1/30/14*
The cerulean Gotham Sky was quickly fading into a mess of colors over our heads. Pinks swirling with oranges as the sun slowly set. I stare up at the beautiful scene in front of me, and I know he'll be gone at any second. He always is when the sun goes down. It reminds me of some kind of whacked up version of Cinderella.
I sigh and rest my head against the tree we're sitting in front of. Dick looks up at me with a questioning glance. "Isn't this the part where you run off into the night?" he grins at my comment and raises his head off my lap as he sits up. He stretches, and then runs his fingers through his perfectly gelled hair. A few strands pop out, making it look elegantly disheveled.
"I thought I'd stay for the whole show this time," he replies. I smile, looking up at the sky. He sits by my side, leaning back against the tree, mimicking my position and looking up.
I feel his eyes fall on me, but can't pull mine away from the sight above us to meet his gaze. Suddenly, though, I feel him pull at the back of my head, and I snap my eyes away from the sunset and look back at him. His blue eyes shine, reflecting the colors of the sky above us, and I feel my hair fall around my shoulders like a golden mane. I narrow my eyes.
"What are you doing?" He just holds up the navy blue ribbon in response, a lazy grin spread across his face. I watch as it blows out in the breeze before snatching it back from him.
"You should wear your hair down more, it's nice." My cheeks heat up, and I look down at my hands, fumbling with the ribbon.
"I don't really like the color," I mumble out, tying the ribbon around my wrist. "It's too….bright." I look down at the hair hanging over my shoulder, seeing how much it looks like his, and look up from it in disgust. Dick reaches out and twists a strand around his finger.
"Really?" He asks, sounding slightly surprised. "I think it's cool. Look-" and he holds the strand curled around his finger up to my face, "-it's white at the tips."
"That's because I haven't had a haircut in years." He strokes the hair with his thumb before uncoiling it from his finger. It flutters down against my chest. "It's just dead," I finish, glancing up at him. His long eyelashes brush his cheek as he looks down at my hair, before his eyes flutter open, and I find myself staring into his beautiful cobalt orbs.
"Lemme walk you home," he breaths out, not breaking his eyes away from mine. I nod slowly, pushing myself up. He grabs his coat off the ground and drapes it over his arm as we walk away from the tree, the sky slowly blackening around us.
It was going onto three years, and our small team of 'junior' crime fighters had grown strong. After everything that had happened to us, battles that we had fought long and hard to win, we were finally a united team. Nothing was kept secret, not anymore. And that was what kept us resilient. Things changed, with time, of course. Once the crisis on the Watchtower had been averted, Aqualad had declared that he was not the leader our team needed. Overlooking the fact that Robin was still young and impulsive, he turned the team over to him, with Batman's approval. None of us complained. We had seen what the kid was capable of. Over a year had passed before we were forcibly split up.
We had made a few minor mistakes during a mission, leaving the mountain empty and vulnerable. It had been breached and top secret information had been leaked out across the world. The League had to intervene, and once the crisis had been dealt with, immediate action was taken. Batman took Robin to the Watchtower, and for hours we were all left in the dark. When Robin returned – alone – he walked out of the cave without speaking a word.
When he came back, a couple days later, he called us all to the meeting room. He had been stripped of his leadership, indefinitely. Members of the League had worked out a new system for the time being. We would be directed by Batman and split into three separate groups. Our partner was chosen to perfectly complement our abilities. One team would handle a mission on its own, except for the rare occasion where more of us were needed. This way, there would always be four of us left behind if the mission were to fail. It was either this, or disbanding the team entirely. So we agreed with little protest.
I had been matched with Superboy, and, much to my surprise, we actually worked together flawlessly. He is all brute strength, while I am a silent predator, and we clash in all the right ways.
I'm wandering aimlessly away from the school. I really have no desire to return home, but I have nowhere else to go. Dick has Mathletes practice after school, and I have the night off at the cave. I come to a city bus stop and slump down onto the bench. I pull my bag off and rummage through it, pulling out some change from the bottom.
The wind kicks up around me, and I shiver, wishing I had brought a jacket today. So far, spring had been quite chilly this year in Gotham. Unusually so. I rattle the change around in my palm, looking up and down the street in search of the bus. Someone sits down beside me on the bench in a heap of black. I sweep my gaze over to them, attempting to see the person from the side of my vision.
"Hey." I jump at the sudden deep voice, and turn fully to the person, meeting a pair of baby-blue eyes and wild black hair.
"Conner! God don't do that," I mutter out, grabbing at my chest. "What are you doing here?" I ask him, after I've recovered.
"Your communicator was shut off." He replies calmly with a shrug of his shoulders. I glance down at his chest, noting the red 'S' peeking out beneath his light pea-coat.
"What's going on?" I ask, tensing my shoulders. If we had a mission on our night off, it meant potential danger.
"Nothing's wrong, don't worry," he leans back against the bench nonchalantly. I let out a sigh, forcing my body to relax. I lean back against the bench as well, crossing my legs.
"If nothing's wrong, why were you trying to get a hold of me?" His eyes drift almost lazily over to me, and he watches me for moment, silently, before dropping his gaze to the leather watch strapped to his wrist. It was a birthday gift from the man in blue himself. He starts twisting it around his slender wrist before replying.
"We have to do some recon. Nothing too big," he glances up across the street as two chattering woman walk by, "silent, no contact."
"Where?" I watch them round the corner, one waving her arms while talking rapidly, the other laughing at the act.
"Shipping yard. Here in Gotham." I furrow my brow, looking back to the man next to me. If it was in Gotham, why wasn't Batman handling it? He had made it perfectly clear that even though I lived in the city, I had to patrol in Star City. Something about keeping up appearances. I suppose there weren't too many blondes by the name 'Artemis' here in Gotham.
"Why are we doing this, then?" He sits up straight, pulling at the collar of his coat.
"Like I said, it's nothing too major." He stands up, offering me his hand. I take it and he pulls me from the bench and we start heading down the street. "Bats can't be bothered with the little things, you know," he whispers into my ear with a smirk. I laugh, nudging him with my shoulder, hard. It doesn't even move him.
"When do we go?" I ask, humor now lacing my voice.
"Tonight."
"Hungry?" He looks down at me, quirking an eyebrow up. I just give him a toothy smile and we continue walking into the heart of the city.
I'm perched on a platform on one of the four large cranes scattered around the large shipping yard. There had been multiple noise complaints, as well as various reported sightings of strange lights coming from here over the past few months. The GCPD had found nothing out of place after searching, and had closed the case. The strange occurrences had not stopped, though, causing the League itself to take interest. But this was low on the list of their priorities, so it had been handed over to us.
I look a few yards ahead and see Superboy's slumped form at the top of a stack of crates. Two hours in, and absolutely nothing had happened out here. I was getting bored myself, so I can't even imagine how bad it must be for the energetic clone. I glance around my perimeter once more, checking for any sign of movement, before folding up my binoculars.
I press the communicator in my ear, sending a signal out to Superboy. I watch from a distance as he turns his head back to my position, bringing his hand up to his head, before he responds.
"Yeah?"
"I'm not seeing anything. You?" I glance around behind me as the wind picks up, whipping my long ponytail around.
"Nothing. If something is happening here, it isn't happening tonight." I nod my head in agreement, knowing that he can most likely see it with his superior vision.
"Let's head back to the mountain. We can give a report and call it a night," His silhouette rises as I finish speaking. I see him twist his back, most liking stretching, before I begin my decent down the crane. When I reach the ground, I feel a strong gust of wind just before feeling Superboy land in front of me. The ground shakes a bit, causing me to fumble slightly, but I quickly regain myself, and the two of us make our way to the abandoned telephone booth.
As we beam into the mountain, our names being read out loud, announcing our presence, a feeling of dread washes over me. Green Arrow stands in the middle of the hub with Red Tornado, talking in hushed tones. As we approach them, Tornado looks up at us before nodding to Green Arrow and flying off.
"Hey. How'd the mission go?" Arrow asks, looking me up and down before glancing over to Superboy, then swiftly back to me. I shrug my shoulders, brushing off his question with a question of my own.
"What are you doing here?" Superboy remains quiet, looking between the two of us.
"I was here for a meeting with the rest of the team." He crosses his arms, his brows coming together. "I stayed back to let you two know what was up." I don't like his posture; Green Arrow was never so professional around me. I was one of the few people he actually seemed to relax around. Any news he has to tell can't be good.
I nod my head slowly, mimicking his position. "So what's up?"
He stands still for a moment before dropping his gaze to floor. I notice his eyes dart to Superboy, briefly, and it dawns on me that his guarded behavior may not be directed at me, but to the clone. I glance over to the man on my right, seeing confusion in his blue eyes.
"Black Canary, uh…" my head snaps back to Green Arrow, who is now looking up at me, rubbing the back of his neck, "she is taking a leave of absence." And he finally locks eyes with Superboy.
I look back over to him, and see his jaw clench. His muscles ripple down his arms as his shoulders tense, and his icy eyes slowly narrow. "What." It's more of a demand than a question.
"Sh-she wanted to tell you herself, but you were called for a mission." Green Arrow says, slightly fumbling with the words. "I told her I'd stay back and let you know." He looks back at the ground after Conner's eyes light up with rage.
"So what, she just isn't going to be here anymore?" he shouts at the blonde man. "What about training?" his voice breaks," wh-what about-" and then his mouth snaps shut, turning his head to the side. I place my hand on his shoulder, but he yanks away from me as if he'd been burnt. His eyes lock on mine, a storm of emotion racing in their blue depths. He gives an almost snarl before stomping off towards the training room.
"Conner," I call to his retreating form, making to follow after him. Green Arrow pulls at my shoulder, holding me in place.
"Artemis, let him go." He says softly, his grip softening as I relax my body.
"What's going on?" I ask him, turning in his direction. He attempts to hold his face still, but a goofy grin breaks out.
"Dinah's pregnant." He's beaming now. I feel a slight pang of jealousy, but quickly push it away and smile back up at him.
"Congratulation's." My tone is dry, but he doesn't seem to notice and he pulls me into a hug. He rocks us around before letting me go, face turning serious again.
"She was so worried. I see why now." He looks towards the hall where Superboy had stomped off to, shaking his head. I can only nod my head in silence.
I record a report for Batman alone, not even making an effort to find the angered clone, before calling it a night and heading back to Gotham. I travel by rooftop before jumping down into an alley a block or so away from my apartment. My street clothes were hidden beneath a dumpster, and I quickly grab them and pull them on over my costume. As I tug my mask off, I realize that someone is watching me. It's just a dark shadow on a window sill two stories up, but it is too obvious and I know I was meant to spot it. I straighten out my jacket and tuck the mask into a pocket, not breaking my eyes away from the shadow.
I hear his chilling laugh, echoing around the alley, just before he glides away from the window and lands swiftly on the ground. "Hasn't anyone ever told you Gotham streets are dangerous at night?" He says in a low voice as he walks across the alley.
I scoff at him, crossing my arms. Robin was the last person I wanted to see tonight. It had been a long day, I wasn't in the best of moods, and he had a tendency to really crawl under my skin sometimes. "What are you doing?" He stops walking, his long frame towering over me.
"Watching you." He says it so calmly, as if it is a normal thing to tell someone. His silky hair shines in the moonlight, the ends curling out slightly around his neck and ears. It's so contrasting against his pale skin, which is almost translucent in the dark. I notice that he has a long-sleeved version of his suit on, hiding away the skin of his pale arms. His head tilts to the side as he stares down at me.
"Well don't." I huff out, looking away from him. He steps closer, and I quickly push past him, walking out of the alley. I march down the street, attempting to ignore the following footsteps, until he swoops in front of me, blocking my path.
"Where are you running off to?" He reaches a gloved hand out and strokes down my cheek. I pull away, not missing the look of disappointment that flashes across his face.
"Robin, it's late. I don't have time for this game right now." I try to explain, hoping he will get it and be on his way.
"I'm just trying to help, Artemis," he all but whispers out as he pulls his hand back to his side.
"Help with what?" I throw my arms up in exasperation. "If you haven't noticed, I'm fine."
"But you don't have to be fine all the time Artemis," he says sharply, walking a step closer to me. I don't attempt to move away, and his hand trails up my arm slowly. I look toward the empty street, glad no stragglers were around to see us. His other hand reaches out and touches my neck lightly. An eruption of gooseflesh scatters down my body as I feel the rough texture of his glove slide up from my neck to my jaw, turning my head gently. I let my eyes trail up to Robins face, locking onto the domino mask covering his eyes. I had always thought of them as being green. Not the dark emerald of Wally's eyes, but an impossibly bright green that rivaled with his sparkling personality. Right now though, all I can imagine are black coals staring down at me from beneath his mask, and I tug away from him vehemently.
"Please," I mutter to him, my voice losing all its power, "Robin, just…" I trail off, shaking my head, before walking around him and down the sidewalk. He doesn't follow me this time, and a small part of me – a very small part – wishes he had. And it scares me more than anything I could come across in Gotham at night.
So...whatcha think? Feel free to tell me your thoughts, wants, fears and dreams!
~Just Look Up