Chapter 6: Nice Guys:
Washington D.C.
May 7, 2013
6:00 A.M. EST
The morning glow of the sun bounced off the reflecting pool of the National Mall. At this hour, there was almost no sound. Almost. The woman panted as she ran laps around the pool for her morning workout. Her blonde hair was tied back into a single ponytail to keep it out of her face while she jogged. She kept her eyes focused right in front of her as sweat dripped down her forehead. The steady rhythm of her breathing was interrupted by a sudden exclamation as another jogger passed her on the path.
"On your left," the man called out as he sprinted past her.
"Really, Steve?" Artemis asked sarcastically as Captain America overlapped her for the tenth time this morning. Wally was staying in with the baby so she could do her early morning workout. Since they were spending the week in D.C. that meant getting up at the crack of dawn for a run around the reflecting pool. Unfortunately for her, Steve Rogers did the exact same thing, meaning she was going to get lapped several times before her run was finished.
An hour later, Artemis was cooling off at the base of a tree near the pool when Steve jogged up, having finally finished his own morning run.
"You're a freaking machine, Steve," Artemis commented as she took a swig of her water bottle. "More machine than man, I'd say," she added with a chuckle.
"I don't think it's fair to compare me to Darth Vader," the captain retorted jokingly.
"You understood that reference?" Artemis asked with mock surprise. "And here I was looking forward to laughing at you being behind on pop culture." She and Steve laughed before the conversation turned towards life working at S.H.I.E.L.D. Being a combat instructor meant that Artemis didn't go out on field missions, so she frequently picked Wally, Steve, Clint, and Natasha's brains to find out the latest S.H.I.E.L.D. news. There hadn't really been anything exciting happening with the agency since The Avengers tangled with Aldritch Killian's Extremis conspiracy last Christmas, so there wasn't much to talk about beyond the occasional nascent meta-human (or "gifted" as they were called in this universe) going on a killing spree.
After the conversation wound down, the two superheroes headed their separate ways. Artemis and Wally were going out for lunch later so she headed back to her hotel to get cleaned up, while Captain America walked back to his apartment to take a shower. As she walked back to the hotel, Artemis reflected on the life Wally had built here while he was trying to get home. The Avengers all had a similar dynamic to the team now that she thought about it. Tony was what Wally would probably be like if he was as rich as Bruce Wayne. Her dark past, snarky personality, and archery skills were split between Natasha and Clint, respectively. Bruce had Superboy's anger issues. Meanwhile, Captain America most reminded the archer of M'gann. Both were unfailingly optimistic (although Miss Martian had become a bit of a pessimist after Tula's death, what with her mind raping bad guys and all), and eager to please.
As she rode the elevator up to her and Wally's hotel room, she couldn't help but admit that she had grown attached to this world as well. Don't get her wrong, she missed her home dimension. But she and Wally would both miss the friends they had made here in this universe. They had a bit of a dilemma on their hands. It took a lot of energy just to cross between the two dimensions, but if they were able to come up with a method of transport that made crossing over easier, maybe they could visit whenever they wanted. The only problem (besides inventing it) would be keeping it out of the hands of supervillains.
One more chapter before we switch back to the Young Justice Universe and check in with what Nightwing has been up to the last several months. Since the last few chapters have all focused on Artemis interacting with a different Avenger each time, next chapter will obviously involve Artemis interacting with our good friend Bruce Banner.
