A/N: I AM SO SO SORRY GUYS! I really meant to have this posted yesterday but I was stuck at school from 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM because of my end of season track banquet. (Yes my coach can talk for three hours) I'm really sorry guys.
So after this chapter there will be a time skip to the end of summer, so just a few months. There may be longer time skips in the future. I hope you all enjoy this chapter; Laurel is coming in for the first time. It is also a bit cheesy and fluffy, but I figured they both disserved it as characters with both of them in their shows loosing important people to them. They deserve some fluff instead of the usual angst. Also the URL for mine and Punisher164's story on Fictionpress is on my profile. Please check it out! It would mean a lot to me!
Disclaimer: Neither show is mine
The New Archer in Town
Chapter 3: The Awakening
Oliver was awoken later that night by yelling. It then morphed into screams of terror. Oliver leaped out of bed and ran towards his door. If somebody were attacking his family, there would be hell to pay. Thea and his mother met him out in the hallway.
"Is that Artemis?" His mom asks him. He surveys the group and nods. He moves to run down the hallway and stop whatever attacker there is but Thea stops him.
"Charging in might not be the right solution." Thea tells him.
"Thea, we don't have time for this! There is an attacker in the house! Alert the guards, get to safety." He urges.
"Oliver, stop. There is no attacker." Moira says.
"How do you know?" He asks.
"Cause I did the same thing after you and dad went missing." Thea says. "It's a nightmare."
"Comfort is the best solution." Moira says.
"Wait, you think I should go in there?" Oliver asks, his head clearer now that he knew that nobody was under attack.
"She trusts you the most." Thea states.
"She hates me. She thinks I want to send her away."
"Do you?"
"...I don't know." Oliver trails off, turning to his mother. "You were right mom, this might have not been the best decision."
"What's done is done Oliver. You can't just send her away." Moira states. "We will all adjust." Artemis' scream echoes down the hall. "Alright, enough talk. I would like to go to sleep." With that, Moira Queen walked back towards her room.
"Just talk to her Ollie." Thea suggests. She then turns and goes back to her room as well.
Oliver sighs but walks down the hallway towards Artemis' room. He opens to door and spots the girl, tangled in sheets, thrashing about wildly in bed. A few tears were streaming down her cheek, but she still seemed very much asleep.
"Stop, stop, stop." She mumbles in coherently. Oliver approaches the bed, sitting down on the edge to avoid the thrashing limbs. He grabbed her shoulder and tried shaking her awake. Nothing changes.
"Artemis wake up." He says.
"Mommy." She says softly as she begins to wake up. She looks up to see Oliver though and everything comes crashing back. "Oh, its you." Her voice wavered and shook a bit. "Need me to leave right now?"
"Artemis, you had a nightmare." He says.
"Way to state the obvious." Her usual snarkiness was back, but it sounded a bit forced. "What do you want?"
"Artemis, you were screaming. I came to wake you up." Oliver explains.
"Oh." Artemis says, pulling the blanket up a bit more around her shoulders. "Thanks for that, you can leave now."
"We should talk."
"I don't want to talk about what happened with the robbery." Artemis states.
"Not about that, your nightmare. Is there anything bothering you?" She gives him a look. "Okay, bad question. Just talk to me."
"First off, it wasn't a nightmare. It was a memory, a bad one. Can I go back to sleep now?" Artemis asks.
"Artemis..." Oliver trails off.
"Fine. It was the same one I always have. It starts off really nice; I'm sitting in my kitchen telling my mom and my sister about what had happened to me at school that day. Jade, my sister laughs at me a bit and my mom tells her to stop. I ignore it though and continue my story. My dad walking in interrupts it. He was wasted and walks right up to my mom and tells her that he and her have a job that they are going to do together that night.
"After that my mom gets really mad. They are yelling. Most of it was in French and Vietnamese with some English thrown in. That's when Jade steps in and tries to argue on mom's defense. He reacts by hitting her and causing her to stumble back into the table. A plate breaks and a piece of the glass flies out and cuts me on my leg. My mom starts screaming again. Everyone was yelling and screaming and I was just sitting there helplessly saying stop over and over again as my leg bled.
Usually there is more but you interrupted." Artemis finishes her story, pulling the blanket up over her face to hide.
"I'm sorry Artemis." Oliver says sincerely.
"I was only six at the time. I just wanted my family to act like a family. I hadn't yet realized how broken it was." Artemis tells him, still under her blanket. Oliver awkwardly places a hand on her shoulder.
"No kid should have to go through that."
"There are people who experience worst. At least I had a family, despite how broken they were. I just feel so ridiculous and weak." Artemis says.
"Being scared isn't a weakness Artemis."
"Tell that to him." Artemis responds bitterly.
"I get scared sometimes." Oliver is surprised by the words that come out of his mouth, but it works. Artemis pulls the blanket away from her face.
"Really?" She asks.
"Yeah, all the time. I spent five years on a hostile island. I was always afraid that somebody was going to kill me every night when I went to sleep. I was scared that something was going to happen to my companions who had become my friends. Coming back here, I was still scared of people hurting my friends. I am still scared that I won't be able to honor my father's dying wishes and that I will fail him. Artemis, fear is a completely natural part of life, I assure you." Oliver tells her.
"Have you ever had a nightmare?" She asks him.
"Yes, I have. They aren't fun."
"No, they aren't." She replies.
"Why don't you go back to sleep?" Oliver suggests.
"What if it comes back?" Artemis asks.
"Don't worry, I'll be right here if it does." Oliver tells her.
"Really?" Oliver looked at the vulnerable girl besides him. She was just as broken as him if not more. That was one of the reasons he had suggested taking her in. If she could find redemption and be put back together, then he could too. He hadn't realized it then, but looking at her now, he did. Helping her is his redemption.
"Really."
Artemis nods and pulls the blanket up to her shoulders. She moves over to one side, making room for Oliver. He laid down on one end, moving away from sitting on the edge.
"Good night Artemis." He says.
"Night Oliver." She mumbles as her eyes close and she begins to drift back off to sleep. Oliver watches her for a few moments before going off to sleep himself.
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Oliver woke up the next morning. Besides him, Artemis was still sound asleep. He smiles at her, realizing that she actually looked peaceful for once. He got up and walked out of her room down the hall towards his. Thea intercepts him along the way.
"Morning Oliver looks like everything went well." Thea comments.
"Yeah, it did." Oliver responds.
"Good. You know, she's really started to grow on me. Mom too, she just won't admit it." Thea says with a smile. "Now, I am out to meet Roy. Talk to you later?"
"Course. Have a good time, be safe." Oliver tells her. She rolls her eyes in response as she walks down the staircase.
Once in his room, Oliver changes into a t-shirt and jeans before walking down to the kitchen. He didn't have anything to do for Verdant that day and he was going to have some fun. Artemis is there, sitting at the counter in her pajama shorts and t-shirt, eating a bowl of cereal.
"Morning." He says to her.
"Morning." She responds.
"So is that what you plan on wearing into town today?" Oliver asks. He watches as confusion crosses her face until realization dawns on her.
"You don't have anything to do today?" She asks.
"Nope. You and I are going to spend some time together and do something fun." Oliver tells her. She smiles widely.
"That sounds awesome. I'll go change." Artemis hops off of the chair, throwing her left over cereal into the sink, and then runs out of the room.
Ten minutes later while Oliver is eating an apple and skimming the newspaper, she reappears in jean shorts, a simple long sleeved blue shirt, and black converse. Her hair was also brushed and up in a ponytail.
"We going?" She asks. Oliver smiles and throws his apple core away.
"Yeah, let's go."
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Oliver gives Diggle the day off so that it is just he and Artemis. They had already walked through the Starling City street fair and had just begun to walk through the park, eating ice cream. Oliver was in the middle of telling Artemis a funny story about a prank that he and Tommy had pulled on this jogger when they were kids, leaving out Tommy's name though, when suddenly somebody is shouting at them.
"Oliver!" Both turn around to see a brown haired girl jogging towards them. Artemis had no clue that she was but she could tell that Oliver was clearly delighted to see her. Artemis watches with mild amusement as she approaches. She and Oliver share a brief kiss.
"Laurel, I thought you weren't coming back from Florida until Monday?" Oliver asks her.
"Plans changed. Joanna got really sunburned and we had already spoken with enough people for the case so we decided to come back early." Laurel says. Her eyes finally land on Artemis and she looks down at the blonde haired girl in confusion. She breaks away from Oliver and goes to stand in front of Artemis. "Hi, I'm Laurel."
"Artemis. Are you and Oliver dating or something?" Artemis asks. Laurel laughs a bit.
"Yes we are. Excuse my asking, but how do you know Oliver?" Laurel asks.
"I've been living with him the past week." Artemis responds.
"Oh." Laurel looks over at Oliver in confusion. He explains further.
"I met Artemis in Gotham City. She wasn't in a very good situation so I offered for her to stay with me. We're still adjusting, but things are looking up, right kid?"
"Don't call me kid, but yeah, things are looking up." Artemis replies, smiling.
"Well it's very nice to meet you Artemis. It'll be a pleasure to get to know you more in the future." Laurel turns to Oliver. "I'll call you tonight."
"Alright." He leans over and kisses her again. "Have fun on your run."
"As long as there are no dead rodents awaiting me like that time you and..." She abruptly stops talking and looks at the ground in sadness. "Yeah. I'll talk to you later."
With that she turns around and commences to run again. Artemis looks up at Oliver to see the same sadness in his eyes as well.
"Who did you pull the dead rodent trick with Oliver?" Artemis asks as they begin to walk again, both of their ice cream's long forgotten.
"Tommy." He says softly.
"Who was Tommy?" Artemis asks carefully.
"My best friend. I failed him." Oliver states, tossing the dripping ice cream into a nearby trashcan. Artemis is about to say something when Oliver quickly says, "Hey, you want to go see a movie? I heard that there is a good action flick playing right now."
"Sure." Artemis responds. Oliver looks relieved as they walk out of the park. Artemis was starting to realize just what he meant by the fact that he was broken as well.
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Artemis was lying on a training mat lazily counting the artificial lights overhead when something was thrown at her. She sits up and looks to see her beautiful green costume on her lap. She looks to her right to see Oliver standing there smiling. Diggle stood over by the computer station with Felicity; both of them were smiling as well.
"You're not serious right?" Artemis asks.
"Oh, I'm completely serious. Roy is taking the night off so its you and me kid." Oliver tells her. Artemis was so happy that she didn't even correct his usage of the word kid to describe her.
"This is so awesome!" She says popping up off of the floor. He wraps her arms around Oliver quickly before running off to go change, happiness in her step.
"I'm proud of you Oliver." Oliver turns to look over at Diggle. "I know it takes a lot for you to change your ways once you have something set in your mind."
"At least this way I can keep an eye on her." Oliver says.
"What brought this about?" Felicity questions.
"I guess I'm just seeing things in a different light."
Later that night, Artemis and Oliver stood on a rooftop, ready to go in. Sean Matthews sat at his desk, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen.
"Okay, review, I'm going in first. You come in after. I'll take out the first string of guards in the office and then grab Matthews and you will lock the doors and keep an eye out for any other. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Artemis responds.
"Wait until you see me approach Matthews before you come in."
"I get it."
"And make sure you are holding onto the line securely."
"Yes, I will."
"And..."
"Oliver! This isn't my first time going after the bad guy, chill out." Artemis tells him. He rolls his eyes, but shoots the air into the building; a long cable attached to it was tied to a pole on the roof. Oliver grabs a pulley and leaps off of the roof, travelling the distance before smashing in through the window.
Artemis watches as Oliver makes quick work of the initial guards, knocking them all out instead of kill, like she requested. Once she sees him approaching Matthews, Artemis pulls out her own pulley piece, attaching it to the cable and holding on tight as she jumps off the roof.
The wind rushes past her as she zooms along the cable, through the window. She lets go of the pulley at the right time and summersaults into the office. She immediately shoots two blunt arrows at an approaching guard, knocking him out. She runs to the doors, shutting them tightly just as she hears more footsteps echo outside the door.
While Oliver interrogates Matthews, she cuts the cable, and pulls out the arrow. They had another escape route planned. Artemis walks away from the window, when she suddenly hears a familiar noise by the door. Oliver didn't hear it, but Artemis did.
"Get down!" She shouts, running over to the desk. She pulls Oliver down onto the floor as a volley of bullets is suddenly released, flying through the door, over Oliver and Artemis' heads.
"You do what you need to do?" He nods. "Let's go then." Before they could reload their machine guns, Artemis and Oliver take off for the window, jumping out just as the other guards break through the door. They each pull at strings attached to the packs on their backs, letting out small parachutes, as they drifted to the ground. Once they land, they each quickly cut the parachute lines and run towards the waiting car. They hop in and take off, just as the guards burst out of the window.
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"That was epic! It was so much fun!" Artemis proclaims from where she was sitting on the practice mat. The three adults look over at her with amusement.
"Something is clearly wrong with you if you find that fun." Felicity says jokingly, looking over at the girl from the top of her computer.
"Well it is fun. And are all of those people getting their money back?" Artemis asks.
"As we speak." Diggle responds.
"That makes it even more fun." Artemis responds. Diggle laughs.
"Welcome to the team." Diggle says, smiling.
"No, welcome to the family." Oliver corrects him. The smile on Artemis' face was one of the greatest things Oliver had ever seen.
A/N: So that ends that. Artemis meets the important people in Starling City, the bond between Artemis and Oliver begins to grow, and Oliver accepts her place on the team. Thank you all for reading. Please review. Did you guys' like that? Was everyone in character? When we next see our favorite characters, Artemis will be starting school. That will be interesting. Until Next Week!