I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Birth of a New Problem
"He didn't come back," Richard said. "He's smart."
"He took most of the food," Artemis said pointing.
"Great," Richard said. "Once I get this bullet out of my shoulder we'll worry about getting more food."
Artemis walked over and pulled out a pair of pliers. Richard groaned but lay down and clamped his mouth shut. Artemis pushed the pliers into the bullet hole then pulled the bullet out. Richard kept perfectly silent but as soon as the bullet was out he groaned.
"You have a very high pain threshold," Artemis said.
"Thanks," Richard said.
He wrapped up his shoulder then sat against the wall.
"Now what?" Artemis asked.
"I'm going to sit here until my shoulder stops hurting," Richard said. "Once that happens, we can go restock."
"You're okay with stealing?" Artemis asked.
"I'm running distraction," Richard said.
"Okay," Artemis said. "Until then, I think I'll practice."
"Practice what?" Richard asked.
"Archery," Artemis said picking up a green compound bow.
Richard smirked and Artemis pulled out a target and a quiver of arrows. She fired three arrows and got a bull's eye with each then Richard threw a sharpened rock and go it in the middle of her arrows.
"Impressive," Artemis said. "We should get you some Shuriken."
"Do I look like a ninja to you?" Richard asked.
"No," Artemis said. "Ninja don't use casts."
Richard rolled his eyes then pulled himself up. He walked over to the rear corner where Wolf was sleeping.
"Wake up boy," Richard said petting him. "Time to go get food."
"Let's go," Artemis said putting her stuff away.
Richard nodded and they all walked to Gotham. As they walked up the street, they heard a group of soldiers taking.
"Did you hear?" one soldier asked. "Bart got stabbed in the chest. Apparently he accidentally killed a couple of Civies and their brat didn't like that."
"Dang," another said. "He was the best Gotham soldier in the army."
Richard clenched his fists and he and Artemis continued. Once they were out of earshot Artemis looked at him.
"That was the one that killed your family right?" Artemis asked.
"Yes," Richard said. "I didn't mean to kill him."
They came to a fruit stand and Richard sent Wolf in first.
"Ready?" Richard asked.
Artemis pulled out a sack and nodded. Wolf grabbed one fruit then batted some more onto the ground. The owner of the fruit stand chased Wolf and Richard swept fruit into the sack. He and Artemis ran off and as they turned into an alley, the brick beside Richard's head exploded as a soldier fired.
"Run!" Artemis said.
"No duh," Richard said.
They came to a wall and stopped.
"I'll give you a boost," Richard said.
"But-" Artemis began.
"Trust me," Richard said.
Artemis stepped on his hand and he practically threw her over the wall. She looked back just as he swung his legs over the top and dropped a second before the top exploded.
"How did you-" Artemis began.
"I told you I was good at gymnastics," Richard said.
"Oh yeah," Artemis said.
They both continued running and rounded a corner just as soldiers began dropping over the wall. They ran as fast as they could and eventually the soldiers gave up chasing them. Richard and Artemis went back to their hideout and sat down heavily.
"Well that sucked," Richard said.
"Yeah," Artemis said. "At least we're alive."
"No kidding," Richard said. "Did we get anything?"
"We had a sack full of apples but..." Artemis trailed off as she pushed her hand out through a tear in the bag about the size of two footballs.
"Great," Richard said. "Where's Wolf?"
Wolf ran in and sat beside him dropping an apple into his lap.
"Good job boy," Richard said petting him. "You go ahead."
Wolf ate it then curled up in his corner. Richard sighed and picked up a rock. He held it in his injured arm and used a second rock to cut and shape it. He stopped when it was rounded on the sides with a chunk missing making it similar to an 'H' with rounded sides and a double-pointed spike forming the middle.
"Cool," Artemis said. "And you said you don't use Shuriken."
"It's a boomerang," Richard said. "It probably won't come back when it hits something but it'll work for now."
"We should probably train," Artemis said. "If those soldiers find us we'll need to fight our way out."
Richard smiled and nodded. Artemis also smiled remembering his injured arm.
"Any idea when that'll heal?" Artemis asked.
"No," Richard said. "I'm hoping soon though."
Just then they heard the sound of several hundred people marching. Artemis looked outside then returned pale.
"Soldiers," Artemis said. "Star City. Wally's with them."
"Great," Richard said. "We need to move, now."
They gathered some food then they all ran outside and to the adjacent cliff. It was perfectly flat but there were still enough cracks to climb. Wolf ran away to circle around and Richard pulled his arm out of the cast and groaned before climbing. He and Artemis made tortuously slow progress up the hill but finally reached the top. Richard groaned and slid his arm back into the cast. Then he helped Artemis ascend the rest of the way up the cliff. He turned around just as Wally's fist collided with his jaw. Wally swung again without his speed and Richard blocked it.
Wally swung three times with his speed and hit Richard all three times before Richard could react to the first. Wally swung again but this time, Richard managed to block it and tripped Wally. Wally landed on his hand and spun wiping Richard's legs out from under him. Richard landed on his back and flipped over landing on top of Wally. Wally grinned and kicked Richard between the legs four times as hard and fast as he could. Richard literally flew into the air and over the edge of the cliff but grabbed the edge and smashed into the edge. Artemis pulled him back up but just as he got onto the top again, Wally kicked her off. Artemis fell fast but the soldiers caught her saving her life.
"You son of a...ow," Richard groaned as he stood. "How much did they pay you?"
"More than you can possible imagine," Wally said. "But they didn't need to pay me that much. I was more than happy to simply get back to the easy life."
Richard moved to punch Wally but Wally kicked him squarely in the chest and launched him off of the cliff. Richard did thee back flips then crashed down hard squarely on his back. The soldiers moved over, but even as they pulled out medical kits, Richard's vision faded to black. His last thought, was the regret of not being able to save Artemis.
THE END
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