Oh, She's Nobody

chapter seven: Pleasant Revenge

"You want me to teach you what?"

"I don't need you to teach me everything, I know the basics, it's just that I have this thing that I can't open."

Robin stared at her in a skeptical silence.

"Are you going the help me or not?" Artemis asked more than a little annoyed.

"Sure," Robin replied shrugging a shrug that said he had nothing else better to do.

Though she was trained to figure out things herself, Artemis believed in asking for assistance when she needed it. She never could understand people who couldn't admit they needed help. It was the easiest and fastest way to get something done right, so why not ask?

Happy that he agreed, the two sat around his wrist comp. Artemis was sure Robin was saying something very intelligent and scientific, but to her it sounded like "Blah blah blah numbers blah blah blah computer blah blah. Easy right?"

"..." the blonde stared at the hologramed screen with contempt. She could understand advanced scientific theory but, computers...

"... want me to open it for you?" Robin offered unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"No, I can do it..." Artemis said letting the unspoken "eventually" hang in the air. Robin smirked and she nudged him roughly while she tried to take the flash drive from him.

"C'mon, this is seriously encrypted. If you do this without my program, it'll take forever," Robin protested successfully keeping the device from her, his inner hacker piqued by the challenge the device presented.

"Robin!" she demanded as if she were scolding a dog, "give it!"

Unfortunately for her, the Boy Wonder wasn't hardwired to obey her stern voice. The two wrestled playfully for the drive.

SHOOM went Robin's automatic door. The two froze to look up at the intruder. Red Tornado stared down at the the teammates, taking in the sight of them on their sides, splayed on the floor, Artemis pushing at Robin's face with one hand while reaching for his other outstretched hand while he was lightly pulling at her ponytail to keep her from moving.

"..."

"..."

"..."

SHOOM went the closing door as Red Tornado deemed the situation perfectly acceptable and left.

Artemis and Robin's eyes met and they stared at one another before bursting out in laughter.

After it died down, the archer eyed the drive and Robin's hand tightened around it. Before another burst of futile childish wrestling could ensue, Artemis sighed, and prepared to offer a deal.

"If I let you open it, you can't use your program," she stated, lithely sitting up.

"But it'll take forev–"

"And!" she interrupted before he could protest, "you have to use my laptop so you won't be compelled to cheat. Ah! No whining! That, or give it back," she said with finality in her tone. Robin nodded reluctantly while pouting making her smirk at her win before handing him her laptop.

As she sat back to watch him work she tried to follow along and learn. However, she started to gain a headache from watching the lines speed by, so she stopped, instead, she chose to let the soothing sound of someone typing really fast relax her.

"If 'deceit' means to lie to someone, does 'ceit' mean honesty?" he said absently typing away.

Having grown used to his random questions of word construction, she replied genuinely, "I wouldn't know, ceiting is usually harder."

"You don't seem to have a problem being ceitful to KF," the Boy Wonder monotonously, almost as an afterthought, too absorbed at cracking the code then to be concerned by the conversation.

"That's just about stupid things for a stupid boy. With most things, a good lie is easier to believe than the truth," she mumbled bringing her knees up to hug them. The archer was feeling exposed at the topic. She was almost comforted to see his apathy since the topic could take a turn for the worse.

"But the best lie always has some truth in it," he stated.

The Boy Wonder surprised her by flashing a weak smile, showing he was invested in the discussion. He didn't make a big deal out of the possibly dangerous conversation and his insights made her look at him in a new light. He wasn't just the mischievous baby of the group, he actually had some depth to him that didn't consist solely on hacking or combat...

She hugged her knees tighter and rested her head on them to stare blankly at Robin hacking into the stolen flash drive.

This wasn't supposed to be so hard. She wasn't supposed to be goofing around and actually having fun with these people. It was supposed to be an act, and she was doing a good job of it during the first few months, but if what Robin said was true... Did she always feel a kinship towards them?

Who exactly was she lying to?

"Let go of me! Don't you know who's daughter I am? Once my father finds out about this, you're so going to pay!" seven year old Artemis threatened as she thrashed about even though her arms and legs were tied.

"Quiet. I will not tolerate empty threats," a woman's voice ordered coldly. Artemis was about to give her a piece of her mind, but upon looking at the woman, her words carried no air. Before her was a steely-eyed Asian woman with an unfeeling aura and the promise of pain or death if she didn't deem you worthy.

"Your father gave you to us," she stated Artemis' worse fear. No... she was being a good girl, Father would never... though the young girl was in denial, she knew that what the lady said was true. Unconsciously, Artemis' eyes began to tear up as she fought an inner battle within herself.

Ignoring the girl's disquiet the woman said to her captors, "Make her 'Siren'."

They threw her into a dark room and closed the door on her after cutting her binds. Immediately, Artemis set to find the key hole and took a bobby pin to try to pick it.

"What are you doing?" girl's voice apathetically asked behind her, but she didn't bother to turn around, keeping her focus on picking the lock.

"I'm breaking out," she replied automatically.

"And where exactly are you going once you're out?" she asked in the same jaded tone.

"I'll figure it out."

"Do you hear yourself? Even you don't believe that," she scoffed.

"So? It doesn't make it not true," Artemis replied stubbornly.

"Just a rule of thumb around here, if you're going to lie, lie well," she said exacerbated, sounding like she rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to lie, it's dishonest," Artemis replied letting her mother's teachings shine through.

"Of course it's dishonest, you're lying. But if you want to last longer than the others, I'll let you in on a trade secret," the girl said and Artemis turned around to face her.

There, laying on a twin bed, was a girl who looked almost exactly like her, though her hair and eye colour was inverted and the girl's head shape was less angular. She wore the same tight black pants and form fitting black gi as the people who carried Artemis in here.

The blonde seemed transfixed on the girl's eerie golden eyes as she continued, "The key to a good lie– and shut up, you are going to lie sooner or later while in here... The key to a good lie is this: If you believe it, they believe it."

"How am I supposed to believe a lie when I know it's a lie?" she asked confusing herself.

The raven haired girl seemed to understand though. A shadow of someone older than the eight that she was ghosted through her golden eyes as she said, "Sometimes... you're the hardest one to fool, but you live the lie until the lie eventually becomes your life. That's how you're going to survive here."

"Who are you? And why do you look like me?"

Ignoring the last question, the girl sighed and said boredly, "Aria Argeneau... and you're–"

"Artemis..?" Robin asked meekly. Artemis, realizing she must have fallen asleep, became aware of her body again, and quickly noticed that she was leaning on Robin's shoulder. She looked up surprised, but stopped short. She was so close to him that she could see through his sunglasses and actually look at him. Almost transfixed, they stayed like that for a few moments. His eyes darted down as she habitually pursed her lips. It was then that she became aware of how close they were. If either breathed too deeply, their lips would touch...

"Ah! Sorry!" they exclaimed at the same time, leaping away from each other.

"Ifyouwant,youcannaponthebed," he offered as she said, "BCreallydidanumberonme."

They stared at one another awkwardly then laugh desperately trying to ease the awkwardness. Unfortunately, this somehow made it feel even more awkward.

"I think I should go nap on the bed," she stated as he said, "I'm going to finish cracking this."

They shared another awkward laugh then turned away from the other thinking, That was weird.

"Got it!" Robin exclaimed proudly.

"Great!" Artemis said shooting up from the bed and crawled to look over his shoulder since he chose to sit on the floor and lean his back against the bed. The archer hid well her disquiet about him seeing the file with her. Who knows what Aria could've hidden in there and to have a "hero's" eyes on it... she didn't even have her neuralacuna...

They shared a cheeky smile then animatedly look back at the screen.

"HEY ROB!" Wally yelled his entrance as the automatic door opened before him. The two in the room looked up at him with slight surprise and Wally frowned as he took in their close proximity to one another.

"What're you doing?" the speedster demanded suddenly feeling angry. Robin opened his smirking mouth to explain, but Artemis cut him off.

"Don't say anything Robin," she whispered quietly and in a serious tone. Robin looked up at her somewhat confused, then noticed they were a breath away from kissing once again. He jumped away as Artemis went to grab her laptop causing her to fall on top of him. They were going to laugh it off, but Wally roughly pulled Artemis off his best friend.

"Dude," Robin stated saying nothing and everything.

"What is wrong with you?" Artemis exclaimed pushing him away from her with the same force.

Confusing himself by his behavior, he didn't have anything to say as Artemis helped the smirking Robin up then took her laptop from him.

"See you later, Robin," she said though it kind of sounded like, "Thank you."

Robin snickered his 'you're welcome.'

"Kid Flash," she stated his name without tone, openly showing how he angered her. Without a word or second glance at him, she walked off.

Robin whistled softly before saying tauntingly, "You got her maaaad."

"Why was Artemis in your room?" Wally snapped back sternly.

The younger boy blinked, surprised at the tone of voice, "... what's wrong?"

"Nothing, why would there be something wrong?" Wally answered automatically. The two stared at one another.

Squirming though Robin just raised a brow, he quickly continued, "Nothing, it's nothing."

"KF–"

"Forget it," he cut BW off before storming off, angry and not understanding why.

"You should be more citeful to your best friend!" Robin called out after him.

"Roy was poisoned again, by the way," Wally grumbled over his shoulder, as the door closed, leaving Robin standing bewildered in his room.

Roy woke up to his ex-mentor's worried gaze...again. Immediately upon waking GA lectured him, at least until Roy mustered the energy to stop him, falling under blessed unconsciousness soon after.

He awoke to someone lightly dabbing his face with a cool cloth. It wasn't unpleasant, but he gently swatted it away. Blinking his sleepiness away, he looked up at his "nurse."

"What do you want?" he demanded rudely while straightening his posture. She sighed loudly as she placed the damp washcloth into a bowl of water.

"I feel like we've done this before..." she trailed off putting her weight on one leg while looking at him as if she were tired, "Oh yeah, we did."

Roy glared at her angrily. Unperturbed, she continued.

"Seriously, you really thought she'd be vulnerable to a poison you could get your hands on? ...How do you function on a daily basis with that stupidity?"

Roy started to growl a warning under his breath, yet she went on;

"No really, I'm curious. You seem to be able to do basic necessities by yourself. Is it a birth defect or did you get one too many knocks to the head while out with Uncle Ollie?"

Roy looked like he was going to leap out of his bed and strangle her, but Green Arrow placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Be nice Artemis," Ollie scolded good naturedly.

"If I have to be nice to him every time he gets poisoned, I'll never get to be mean again," Artemis scoffed, her tone implying that it was the most inconvenient thing in the world.

Ollie looked like he was barely holding in laughter, "Well if it happens again then you can rip into him."

"So give me a ball park of how long I'm going to have to be nice to him," Artemis replied in a 'let's-make-a-deal' tone.

"Well, at the rate he's going, I'd say he'll get poisoned again 2-3 days after he gets out."

"Oh well, that's not too bad," the young woman replied happily.

"I'm right, here," Roy interjected angrily.

"We know," Ollie and Artemis replied at the same time in the same tone. It was instances like this that made Roy truly believe they were related, but he knew better.

"I almost died!" Roy burst out angrily relived yet aggrieved to see Ollie's pained expression. Artemis, on the other hand, waltzed over to his chart without a word. The insignia on GA's belt chirped and he looked as though he was listening to something.

"I'm sorry. But, I've got to go. League business. Take care, Roy," Green Arrow said genuinely and griped his ex-protegé's shoulder before turning to the transporter.

Recognized. Green Arrow. 08.

"Cut the guy some slack. It's one of those laugh or cry moments, ya know?" Artemis scolded not liking to see her "uncle" upset.

Roy looked away but mumbled something about his almost dying again.

"Stop being so melodramatic, you weren't going to die. That's the compound for bittersweet nightshade, rarely fatal," Artemis said rolling her eyes as she placed his chart back.

"You know a lot about the compounds of poisons?" he asked suspiciously and Artemis groaned loudly at the sound of it.

"No! We're not going to do this again!" Artemis denied and picked up her bow and quiver making him straighten defensively. Artemis rolled her eyes and tossed him a gift bag roughly.

"What is this?" he demanded as he watched her sling her quiver over her shoulder.

"Boredom wards," she replied, making a show of holstering her bow at her back.

"'Boredom wards?'" he repeated incredulously, relaxing slightly.

"Or entertainment, if you want to be boring," Artemis answered a smile playing on her lips. Roy chuckled while shaking his head.

Recognized. Kid Flash. B03.

"Oh great, my favorite person," Artemis said monotonely showing her contempt as he materialized and causing Roy to chuckle more. Wally's eyes immediately went to her as she gently took the bag and put it on Roy's nightstand while laughing with her fellow archer.

"What're you doing here?" Wally asked confusedly making the two stop.

"It's so nice to see you too, Kid Flash," Artemis replied pleasantly while smiling an equally pleasant smile.

"Are you feeling alright?" Wally asked confused (and slightly scared) of her pleasantness.

"I'm feeling very well actually. It was nice of you to ask! Thank you," she replied pleasantly smiling.

Wally's color drained from his face, visibly freaked, "Y-you're welcome...?"

"And are you feeling alright? You're looking a bit pale," Artemis asked looking pleasantly worried, ignoring Roys coughing chuckle in the background. Wally looked at her like she'd grown a new head.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked quietly so that only she could hear. She spun to look at him and glared.

"This is an A and B conversation, and you're neither A or B, so shut up," the blonde said sassily while smiling her smug smile down at him. He chuckled at the drastic change in mood and she turned to pleasantly prompt the speedster, "So you were saying..."

"I. I'm okay..?" he replied warily. He didn't like her being pleasant to him, it was freaking him out. He could have sworn that she just snapped at Roy, so why was she being so nice to him? It.. it wasn't right...

Before she could say a pleasant reply, he burst out, "According to suicide statistics, Monday is the favored day for self-destruction."

Her pleasant smile disappeared, there! She was going to snap at him now and all would be right in the world.

Instead she said, "That makes sense! Mondays are such a drag. Thanks for telling me that!"

"What's wrong with you?" Wally burst out.

"Oh, you're so funny," Artemis laughed pleasantly, then turned to Roy and punched his arm lightly before saying, "Heal up quick so I can kick your ass for getting poisoned... again."

Roy chuckled slightly then said, "Laugh or cry moment?"

Artemis smirked down at him in agreement then turned onto the speedster, "Okay, well, I've got to get going. Please take care of his sorry ass," she said smacking Roy upside the head then continued pleasantly, "while I'm gone."

Wally nodded as she walks up to the teleporter.

Recognized. Artemis. B07.

"Why's she so nice to you?" Roy asked genuinely.

"I think I made her angry..."

"Okay, what're you doing?" he asked becoming bored at fixing another broken trick arrow. It felt good to be working, but the job got tedious fast.

"I thought you said you didn't care about the new thing I found," Robin replied looking at Roy through his wrist comp. Roy threw a screwdriver at his friend causing the boy to snicker before he continued, an obvious gloat to his voice, "Artemis asked me to hack into a flash drive for her, which I did even though it had a STAR labs firewall and triple encrypted. She took it away before we got to look at it, but I downloaded it onto my wrist comp when she wasn't looking."

"Where did Artemis get it?" Roy demanded instantly interested once her name was mentioned. Maybe this will be the proof he needed to show her true colors.

"Confiscated it from her sister because she thought the Shadows wanted it," Robin shrugged slightly annoyed that his friend wasn't more impressed at his amazing hacking skills.

"Show me," the archer commanded eager to see the file. Since his computer was on his wrist, the Boy Wonder had to sit close to Roy on his bed to be seen clearly.

Robin typed something and the monitor showed all the files on the flash drive.

"Why's that the only one with a fruit title?" Roy asked immediately pointing at the file that didn't make sense.

Robin shrugged and selected it, "Because it contains the properties of pomegranate seeds?"

"Why would a file about pomegranate seeds be in a drive filled with bionic energy and replicating algae?" Roy asked intelligently. The two shared a look making Robin type, suddenly a mini Robin head floated on the screen signaling the presence a hidden file.

AN: ahhh, spring break has been good to me, i've been writing up a storm! Please review