Note: Thanks to a PM by ColorfulandBlack, I am going to try to add more relationship scenes to this story. I hinted to it in the last chapter but she suggested that I go into a little more. I can't guarantee how much so we will see what happens.
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Artemis' Apartment
After being dropped off at home, Artemis heads up to her apartment. Putting the key into the door she opens it and walks in closing the door behind her. She drops her bag on the couch and walks into the kitchen finding her mom making tea.
"Hello Artemis, how was school?"
Artemis takes a seat placing her elbows on the table, crossing her arms and dropping her head on her arms. "It was a good day until I said something I shouldn't have. Can I have some tea as well?"
Paula pauses and turns looking at Artemis. "That's very odd for you to say." Paula turns back to pull a second cup off the counter. "As far as I know, you have never apologized for anything you say. Why don't you tell me what happened." Paula places the second cup then reaches for the kettle.
"Remember the red head Wally that I told you about yesterday." Paula nods. "Well apparently he was at my archery training class today instead of Ollie."
Paula slides the tea cup to Artemis. "Really, I bet that was a nice surprise."
"Not really. I figured after yesterday, he would just be a jerk but he was different." Artemis takes the tea. "Instead we just talked for an hour before Ollie and Dinah showed up."
"And what did you two talk about?" Paula now enjoying her hot tea.
"After we got my new bow set up, we just kept hitting each other with sarcastic remarks." Artemis takes a drink after blowing on the cup. "I was starting to have fun until I made the comment about keeping Wally out late and getting him in trouble with his parents." She puts down her tea. "As soon as I said it, he grabs his stuff and jets out. After he left Ollie made the comment that something happened but Dinah cut him off, that's when I found out that Wally is one of the students that live at the school and something happened to his family."
"Well Artemis, it's not like you knew. To me it sounds like you were just being yourself."
"I was. I guess I learned the hard way to not talk about anyone's family."
"Well I know you don't like to talk about us as well. Maybe your new friends are more like you then you realize."
"Yeah, maybe." She reaches for her tea to take another sip.
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Next Day - Lunch Room
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Artemis takes a seat in front of Richard and Zee, who are quietly talking.
"Hey guys, have you seen Wally today?"
Both Rob and Zee slowly grow a smile across each other's face.
"So, when did you get interested in Wally?" Zee comments.
"Zee, are you trying to get things started. You're giving Richard bad ideas." Artemis takes a bite.
"Rob's dating me right now so bad ideas are all he's allowed to have."
Rob adds. "It's how we survive the day by feeding off each other's twisted, negative energy."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me, but the thing is I said something to upset him and I kinda wanted to apologize."
Zee points her fork at Artemis. "Never apologize, it's a sign of weakness."
"You said something about his family, didn't you?" Rob questions.
"Yeah, did he tell you?"
"No, I just know Wally. It's the quickest way to get to him. Don't take it too hard though, I talked to him when he came back from his midnight run, he's fine."
Artemis nods. "So, now that I know never to say that again, what happened to him?"
Zee stops eating and looks over to Rob.
Rod shifts in his seat alittle. "Well, that's a long story. One best for Wally to tell."
"That bad?"
"That bad for all of us." Zee adds.
Her comment stops Artemis cold. "All of you? Are you telling me that all of you have that kind of past?"
Both nod.
"I guess my mom was right. All of us are more alike than I thought."
"Unity through tragedy seems to be the Teams motto." Rob puts down his fork. "That being said, feel free to call me Rob."
"I thought that was some weird little pet name for the two of you."
"Naah. It's my old nick name from my time in the circus." Rob shares
"It was actually Wally who got the team to use it." Zee adds.
"The circus? Are you serious?" Artemis questions in disbelief.
Rob nods. "My past starts there and ends up like Wally's but don't worry, when the time is right we will tell you."
Zee nods at Rob's statement. "We just wanted you to get comfortable with us first before sharing dark secrets."
Artemis pauses and thinks about her own past. "Maybe by then, I can as well. I still don't like talking about what I've been through."
Zee puts her hand on Artemis' hand. "You can tell us when you're ready. The Team has helped each other get through it. We would be more than happy to help you."
"And maybe you can help with Wally." Zee elbows Rob for his comment.
"Help Wally?"
Zee glares at Rob, who exhales before speaking. "Wally still has issues about what happened to him. I just think someone new could have better luck, that's all."
"That's sounds logical, but I'm too far gone in my own problems to help anyone like that."
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After school, Artemis walks around campus waiting on Dinah and Ollie to finish up their teacher's meeting, finds herself walking into the gym. When she enters the gym its empty except for a certain red head in sneakers, stretching and warming up for his laps. She wastes no time walking over to him stopping about 10 feet away.
"Hey Wally, got a second?"
Wally stands up and turns to her. When Artemis starts to speak, Wally raises his hand to stop her. "Sorry about yesterday. You didn't know and I acted like a jerk, so don't worry about it."
Artemis just nods.
"Okay, now you can start sassing me again." Wally puts down his hand.
"Well I was going to be nice for a change and apologize, which by the way, is something I never do. But since you told me to forget about it, Bye." Artemis turns to walk away.
Wally's face goes from calm to shock. "That's it! Seriously?!"
"YEP. GOTTA GO." Artemis calls out while keeping her back to him as she reaches the door.
"YOU SUCK, YOU KNOW THAT!" Wally calls out to her as the door closes behind her as she continues her stride with a large smile.
When the door closes and Artemis is out of sight, Wally can't help to show his own smile.
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Three Weeks Later
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Three weeks have pass and Artemis is now set with school and with the Team schedule. Her first event is two weeks away and she is confident in her abilities to stomp every contestant she has to face off with. That is until she hears a familiar voice call out to her just before walking into the gates of Gotham Academy. She stops and slowly turns to see a blonde hair man walk up to her.
"Hey baby girl. Long time no see." The man smiles.
Artemis look goes from happy to rage faster than Wally can run. "Not long enough, Dad." Her words are filled with hate. "How did you get out of jail?"
"Well, let's just say your dear old dad had a few friends pull some strings. I hear you're doing well. New school, new friends, it looks like everything is on the up and up for you."
"Not right now it's not."
"Oh come now baby girl, don't treat your old man like that."
"I'LL TREAT YOU HOW EVER I WANT! I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM US. TO NEVER SHOW YOUR FACE AGAIN!" Anger and hate fills the air with her words.
"You calm down right now. I don't need any unwanted attention." His voice stern and commanding.
"You still don't get it do you. You're no longer a part of us, me or mom. The only thing left for you to do is stay away and if you don't leave now, I will go straight into the office and get the cops and the security guards out here in less than 5 seconds, so do yourself a favor and leave and never come back."
After a moment of the two staring each other down, her father steps back. "Okay you win, for now. I'll see you around baby girl." He smiles as he turns and walks off.
Artemis still in raged turns and walks towards the school.
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Lunch
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Artemis may have had time to calm herself on the outside but she is still full or rage on the inside by the time lunch rolls around. She walks into the lunchroom and Zatanna spots her walking in.
"Hey you, what's up." Zee says walking up.
Artemis just looks over at her. "Nothing."
Zee notices that something isn't right. "Hey what's wrong. Anything I can do?"
"Back up time would be a good start." Artemis looks away. "Let's just say my past came back to haunt me this morning."
Zee quick to respond. "You tell me what needs to be done and it will happen, even if the whole Team has. . ." But Zee's words are cut off by Artemis.
"No, I'll deal with it. I don't want anyone involved. I'll. . . . . I gotta go Zee." And with her last words Artemis turns and walks out passing Rob.
Rob just managed to move out of the way as Artemis passes then walks up to Zee. "What happened?"
"I don't know but something's got her pisses. We need to tell the Team." Rob nods in response and both leave the lunchroom to find everyone.
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Team Meeting Room
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Everyone is sitting at the large table as Zatanna is telling the Team what happened during lunch with Artemis when she walks into the room. The Team turns to her but says nothing.
"What?" Artemis calls out as she puts her bag down on the table.
Zee is the first one to speak. "Artemis we're worried about you. Why don't you tell us what's going on."
"It's none of your concern. It's something I have to deal with." Artemis takes a seat making sure to put some distance between her and the Team.
Wally leans forward closer to the table. "It's that guy from this morning, isn't it."
Artemis looks at Wally in shock. "You were watching me?" Her voice turns to anger. "What did you hear?! Who did you tell!"
"I didn't tell anyone, Artemis. I want you to tell us. It's not my place."
"Damn straight it's not your place. Why were you even there?"
"I wanted to talk to you about Saturday but when I heard you screaming at the guy, I stayed around just in case."
Just in case, Wally I don't need protection from anyone. I can take care of myself and yes it is because of him. None of you have no clue what that bastard did to me and my mom, and don't even try to understand what I'm talking about."
Wally's voice is getting lower with every word. "Arty, everyone here knows all too well what you are talking about."
Artemis laughs at his comment then quickly stands up. "Really, let's find out. So that means you also have a criminal father who's done everything from bank robbery to possible murder and is responsible for putting your mother in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. I'm so glad we have all this in common, WALLY!."
Wally jumps out of his chair pushing it back against the wall. The red head displaying so much anger it looks like his skin is about to split. The Team looks on quietly hoping nothing bad happens as he slowly walks around the table and over to Artemis who is standing her ground and not moving.
Wally stops just in front of her. "YES." His voice is low but stern. "Pretty damn close to it." Wally walks past and starts to walk in circles behind her. All Artemis does is follow Wally's movements from over her shoulder until Rob speaks up.
"We all do Artemis." She turns to look at Rob. "My family was with Haly's International Circus. We were doing a show here in Gotham when a group of mob guys tried to get protection money from us. Haly and my dad kicked them out and called the police. That night we were performing on the trapeze when the cables broke loose and my parents fell to their death. Bruce Wayne adopted me and got me in school here. With his help the school started the SS program for kids who needed a chance at a better life."
Rob looks over at Zee.
"My father enrolled me here during junior high school because of his job. Zatara the magician who specialized in escapes, that is until he drowned doing a water escape on stage. The whole world watched it on TV, including me." Tears start to fall slowly down Zee's cheek. "Losing the only parent you ever had is bad enough, but watching that happen, thinking that if you beat your fist hard enough against the TV, you can break the glass and save your father."
Zee covers her face with her hands as Rob wraps his arms around her to comfort her.
Artemis is in shock at what she is hearing and tries to say something but Conner starts his story.
"My father wanted nothing to do with me. I was unplanned to put it nicely so I caused a problem for the famous reporter in Metropolis. My mother drops me off at my dad's place when I was 10 and takes off. My dad, not wanting to damage his career, sends me to my grandparents. They were the only real family I ever had. They loved me and cared for me, we didn't have much being farmers but we were happy. While at school the local sheriff walks into school and calls me into the office to tell me that there was a gas fire at the house and that everything I truly loved and wanted burned to death. With no where left to go, my father sends me here."
Conner looks over to Megan and she takes his hand for comfort before turning to Artemis.
"My mother was the star of a TV sitcom called Hello Megan. It's where my name comes from. After the five year run, my mom wanted to settle down and have a family but things didn't go as planned. My mother's fiancée comes home drunk one night and beats her nearly to death." Megan pauses and takes a breath before continuing. "The worst part about this is my mother was eight months pregnant with me. Because of what happened she was shocked into labor and died while giving birth to me." Megan is now wiping her tears from her eyes as she tightens her grip on Conner's hand. "My uncle took care of me until I was accepted in the SS program here."
Megan wipes her tears again then looks to Conner then over to Kal.
"Both my parents were Oceanographers and writers doing work for different companies all over the world. They even worked for the US Navy which is how they became best friends with a Navy Captain named Arthur Curry. To answer your next question, yes, my swimming coach. My parents were flying out to see him in the middle of the Atlantic when their plane's engine failed and they went down. Coach Arthur blamed himself and kept looking long after the Navy called off the search. His actions to disobey orders forced him to make a choice, early retirement or court martial. He chose retirement and has been taking care of me ever since. When he became a teacher here, he got me into the SS program."
Artemis let's all the stories sink in before remembering that Wally was standing behind her. She slowly turns to see him Standing a few feet away looking at her. What really catches her attention is his green eyes, which are no longer filled with anger, it's of loss and pain.
"I. . . ." Wally pauses and looks down then starts to speak again. "I was once part of a normal family just like everyone here. That changed when my father lost his job and became an alcoholic. I didn't really know how bad it was because my mom always wore a smile in front of me. When my mom started to wear makeup all the time, I didn't think anything of it. She had to start working part time until my dad found another job. But when I found out that the makeup wasn't for her job I got angry, so angry that I marched up to my father and told him that if he ever laid another hand on my mother I would beat him just as bad as he was beating her. He responded by breaking two of my ribs when he punched me in the side. Off and on the fights continued between me and him, my mother was always the buffer between us so they never got as bad as the first fight we had. One day during a really bad rain storm, my mom and dad picked me up from school, dad was driving and I remember not being able to see out the car windows at all but what I didn't know was dad started early and drunk himself stupid before picking me up. He lost control of the car, slid off the road and down a hill sideways into a tree doing 30 miles per hour. The car hit the tree on the passenger side where me and my mom were sitting. She was killed on impact, dad was arrested and charged with manslaughter and is now serving 15 years in prison and I got this to remind me of the whole thing."
Wally lifts up his shirt showing the lightning bolt shape scar across his chest.
"Tree limb came through the glass of the door of the car and went right across my chest." He lets his shirt drop back down. "You see Artemis, we all wanted to tell you about our past because we knew that somehow you were just like us. It's the reason why I wanted to talk to you this morning. I was going to ask if you could come with me to my competition so I could tell you what happened to me because I thought I was ready to tell you. "
"I'm sorry." Artemis whispers out to Wally before turning back to the rest of the group. "I'm sorry. I. . . . I didn't want to tell you this way and I never wanted to take out my anger on any of you. I've been dealing with my dad by myself since I was ten. I had to be strong to take care of my mother so I never thought about getting help from anyone let alone finding anyone who could ever understand what I had gone through." She slowly turns back to Wally. "I'm so sorry."
Wally wraps his arms around Artemis who leans into his chest. Wally knows how sincere her words her because when he broke down in front of the group over a year ago, all he could do was quote the same words Artemis were saying now, 'I'm Sorry'.
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Note: Sorry to slam you with all the feels and not warn you about it. So those who wish to review, tell me what you think of the AU backstories of the characters. Did I do it right or did I mess things up?