Artemis POV
I smiled softly as Ace cursed Kid Flash for making her land unsteadily.
"You did a pretty good land. To the untrained eye it would've been beautiful."
She scoffed, "To the untrained eye. They have trained eyes."
I sighed as I led her into white room with medical supplies.
She held her breath, and I was sad to say I knew why.
Two years ago she was convicted of being mentally unstable. Now she has lyssophobia. And slight dementophobia. The fear of going insane and anything with insane in it. She would know what it's like, she was in an insane asylum herself. I checked her heartbeat, which was pounding faster than it should have been and made her change into her spare clothing as she cleaned herself up. She got a knife in the leg, cut on her forehead, and two broken fingers. After I cleaned off the blood on my hands she changed into her superhero outfit. This one had a wooden hair stick that was quite capable of piercing flesh if need be.
"They have security cameras here." she noted
I nodded, "Your point being."
She looked at the corner of the room where a camera was hidden.
"Hello Boy Blunder and Kid Crash. I hope you enjoyed seeing me half naked because I promise you won't ever again. Now if you could please look away from the camera I would appreciate it." She smiled sweetly and grabbed some crutches.
"What are you doing?"I asked
"Leaving."
"Oh no you don't. You need to heal first."
She stood up and started to walk out the door, "Tell Jade I said hi, Paula a warm hug, and dear Lawrence a punch in the gut. Oh how I miss sparring with your friends and family."
I smiled because I knew when she said sparring she meant making sure she lived to 18, "I won't have to, you're staying here."
She stopped and started laughing, "Oh you're funny! Do you honestly believe if they knew about my condition they would except me here. Wow your'e even more mad than me."
"You're starting to sound like it again." I knew it was a low blow, but I had to bring it in. She was still clinically insane and every time someone learned it they thought she was going to try and murder them.
She paled slightly, "I know I know. But do you have any idea how hard it is to keep it in? I know what they said about me, I'm not that insane."
I sighed and did what I hate doing, I begged, "Please. I can't lose you and Hector. You were my only friend, and almost still are. Miss Martian is amazing, but she tries to please everyone. You on the other hand are like a slap of reality. Please?"
She turned around, eyes locked on her feet, "They're not going to like this you know."
"They'll be fine with it, some more than others." I grinned thinking about how eager Robin had been to help her, but for his sake I hope he didn't try to pursue his crush on Ace. She was stubborn, tough, and quite often she didn't care what you felt. She just acted.
She looked up with an expression of anguish, "I'm not doing it for them. I'm trying. But you know what it's like. No trust. You can't trust anyone, not even yourself. I know the voices aren't real and I shouldn't listen to them, but sometimes I find myself wanting to just let them do the talking."
I held her hand, "You're stronger than that. Just keep trying."
She breathed in slowly and finally responded softly, "Where do I stay?"