Never Letting Go.
A Spitfire fanfiction.
Chapter 7
Artemis POV
Hercules ended a little while ago and I'm currently sitting at the kitchen island and going through possible places that my dad could be holding my mum captive. My list so far is not very conclusive.
1) A warehouse in Gotham
2) A warehouse in Star City
3) A warehouse in
So basically, he could be holding her literally anywhere, as long as there's a warehouse. I let out a sigh and dropped my head onto the counter-top. The cool marble almost burned contrasting against my warm forehead. I was still like this when M'gann floated in to grab her new batch of cookies.
"Everything OK Artemis?" Her silky smooth voice did nothing to soothe the pounding in my head.
"Mmm… no. I can't think. My head hurts and I just. Ughhhhhhh." A strangled groan heaved out of my throat. The inky swirls that floated beneath my eyelids did little to numb the pain I felt, even after the beeping of the oven ceased. The silence was accompanied by the sweet smell of white chocolate and macadamia cookies. I inched my fingers forward towards the smell, slowly. I didn't want to move too quickly because it illustrated just how frustrated and hopeless I felt.
"Shit!" I yelped. My fingers found the tray of cookies. The burning hot, freshly out of the oven, did I mention HOT, tray of cookies. My head shot up and the sudden reaction resulted in my ass falling to the floor with a rather spectacular thud.
"Artemis!" M'gann turned around and I blinked up at her. "Oh Artemis, you should know by now not to touch the cookies until they've cooled down a bit." Her concerned tone wouldn't usually annoy me as much as it is. She floated over to the freezer and grabbed an ice pack.
"Yeah, yeah, just leave it M'gann." I couldn't stop the grumble from attaching itself to my words. Even after her shocked and slightly hurt facial expression registered in me, I couldn't stop my pent up frustration from turning into venomous anger. Pushing myself up off the floor with a jolt away from my best friend's cold green hands, I turned to the bench where my notepad rested and snatched the contents of disappointment up before stalking my way down the nearest corridor. I'm not really sure where I'm going, but I've got to go there faster. I just need to be alone, somewhere with Wi-Fi and a good connection to some cameras and other nifty high-tech gadgets. I stopped. Looking around I realised that I was near the tunnels that Robin and I went through when fighting the Reds. 'That must mean I'm near the library.' And now we see this evening's triumph. 'I'm such a dork.' 'Damn Baywatch is rubbing off on me.' I silenced my thoughts. Taking a right I pushed open a door and in my wake stood a library containing what looked to be a million books. Each one as fulfilled and perfect as the last. Growing up, I never had many opportunities for reading. Occasionally, when I was feeling extra rebellious, I would try and sneak a book home from the library. I always borrowed them of course, because I really didn't want to be blacklisted from the public library. My dad never approved of books. He said they made us soft and would put all these ideas in our heads of being "good" and we'd become "the enemy" so he'd have to "dispose of us". Yeah I had a great childhood. Most kids my age were getting kicked outside to go to the library and read, but not me. I was kept inside so I could train and fail at living up to Jade's talents and the high expectations that my sorry excuse for a father held for me.
'Woah. Breathe girl.' I shook the scowl from my face and took a deep breath before putting my notepad down on the closest work bench. Leaving the contents discarded I made my way through the aisles of the library. The floor to ceiling shelves really put things into perspective. Trailing my index finger gently along the furnished shelf, the titles blurred and I felt a wave of relaxation envelope me. I must have made my way through at least 10 sections before I found myself face-to-face with another childhood demon.
'Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest', the man I will never be and the thief I was never allowed to be. I remember when I found it for the first time in the library, I was maybe 9 at the time. I was drawn to the green cover as it reminded me of the forest and freedom. All I wanted to do was hold the cover and hope some of it rubbed off on me. I remember plucking it off the shelf and making a spot for myself over by the non-fiction section. I don't know how much time had passed exactly but I was surprised when the librarian came and told me that I had to go home as they were closing soon and I would have to borrow the book if I wanted to keep reading it. The first time I didn't. But I kept coming back and reading more of it. It only took three trips to finish it, but every so often I would take it back off the shelf and start over. By the fifth re-read, the librarian stopped me before I could leave and starting talking to me.
"It's always that book." She wasn't a particularly pleasant lady to listen to, but for some reason I couldn't move. I didn't answer as I felt that it was my secret place. When I came to this library I wasn't just able to escape my home life, but this book also gave me the opportunity to escape reality as a whole.
"You never read anything else. That book's not a very popular one and you seem to be the only one who ever reads it. Why don't you take it?" She wore glasses on the perch of her nose like any stereo-typical librarian but her eyes sparkled with adventure that I hadn't seen before. Usually when I looked into people's eyes, they were either filled with anger, a thirst for blood or murder. It shocked me. I opened my mouth to answer her but I couldn't. She smiled at me and turned her back to me, walking away. At first I thought that was it, I'd missed my chance, but she came back a few minutes later holding the book in her hands. My book. She went behind the counter and typed on her old keyboard before opening the front cover and wrote something in it. I remember stiffening, thinking she was defacing the masterpiece that was my book. She smiled and handed me the book. "I hope to see you soon sweetie." I returned a small smile and headed out of the library. I had every intention to come back, but that dream quickly died after a few days.
I hid the book when I got home, under the mattress. Looking back on it now, it was the most cliché hiding place for a 9 year old. It was a week or so before I actually got caught. Which to me, felt like a record. I would wait until after he had gone to bed every night before I would silently pull out the book from under my bed and read a chapter or sometimes two a night. It's a little hazy when I think about how he found out, but I remember the beating that followed. I felt a familiar pang at the nape of my neck. My body also remembers that beating. If you lift up my hair and inspect closely, there's a thin scar that runs from the base of my hairline down to my fourth vertebrae. But no-one ever looks that closely.
A jolt of lightning strikes through my body as I realise I know where I should look. When Jade and I used to play hide and seek or have to battle each other in an open plane, she used to tell me that her tactic was to hide in the most obvious place because no-one ever thinks you'll be there. It took a while for dad to piece together that that's what we were doing and at first he would attack us for it, but after using it in a the field, he realised what an asset it was and he adopted it into his training. A slow smile began to spread across my face, gracing me with its presence.
Taking a step away from the shelves, I began a brainstorm of all the places in Gotham I would usually think too stupid for "top-end" criminals to kidnap a handicapped ex-con and my list gradually began to grow.
Encouraged by the silence of the library, I brainstormed locations, pros and cons, reasons why and against, the distance, entry points, exit points and reasons why they'd be perfectly undisguised. It wasn't until my eyes started stinging and yawns wouldn't stop escaping my mouth that I figured it was time to go to bed. I gathered my things and made my way over to the door. Pushing it open, I threw one last glance over my shoulder and I could faintly make out the forest green cover. 'It's time to make new memories.' I don't even remember hearing the sound of the doors closing behind me.
Passing through the corridors, I held my notebook close to my chest. I don't know if it's because a cold chill was settling in the air or if I felt a connection to my mother through the scrawls of ink on the pages within, but I felt more at peace than I have in a while. I walked through the kitchen, it was empty and the smell of cookies was absent. 'Strange, wasn't I just here?' The common room was the same. There was no trace of anyone. No Conner, no Wolf, no M'gann, no Robin, no Zatanna, no Aqualad and no Wally. I shook my head, 'It must be late. They'd all be in bed by now.' I checked the clock on the wall as I entered the bedroom corridor. The hands were telling me 1:15am, but my body was telling me it was nearly sun-up and I'd been awake for 48 hours straight already. 'Just a little further.' By the last few steps, I was fighting my feet to stay awake. They seemed to drag behind me, willing me to stop and sleep on the floor. Just as I reached my door, I heard a voice behind me.
"Arty?" It was Wally. I turned and had to smile at the sight before me. He was rubbing his eyes, which made his muscles ripple, drawing my attention to his bare chest and also his Flash pyjama bottoms. His hair was sticking up in all directions, implying he'd had a bit of a rough sleep before coming out here.
"Yeah?" My voice came out as a whisper.
"It's after one o'clock. Where have you been?" He stepped closer to me, holding out his arms, reaching to pull me into a hug. I was still clutching the notepad when he wrapped his arms around me.
"I've been in the library." I wound my arms around his bare torso and rested my head against his collarbone. I breathed in his scent and relished in his natural warmth.
"This whole time?" His husky voice sent a shiver down my spine.
"Yeah." I mumbled to the freckles next to my lips.
"Come on." He let go a little bit and I huddled around myself to try and capture the warmth before it floated away. He grabbed my hand and gently pulled me towards his room. I was in no state to argue and urged my legs to keep moving. He nudged me to sit on his bed as he closed the door behind him.
"Are you going to sleep with that?" He cocked an eyebrow. I returned the gesture.
"What do you mean?" I questioned, while my eyes wandered.
"The notebook."
"Oh." I put it down on the bedside table and took my shoes off. I felt the bed dip beside me and the rustle of the covers as Wally covered himself with the warmth of the bedsheets. I followed, cuddling up to him. I couldn't resist smiling as he placed a kiss on my forehead.
"Night Arty." He whispered to my soul.
"Night Baywatch." I mumbled back. 'Night Mum.'
Hi Guys! I'm back! I'm so sorry for being so inactive. I had a lot of computer troubles and the recovery of files took a loooooong time. I hope you enjoy. Thanks for sticking with me and I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but as always, Read and Review as it helps motivate me to write more. Love you guys
~DramaQueen106