A/N: Getting through this pretty easily now that I actually have a good concept of where I want to end. Alright, here's another chapter of "How We Fall".
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this fic.
He hadn't left the room yet, and it jarred Artemis enough to make her turn off the stove and leave their dinner, just for a moment. The girl checked the front door and listened to Roy coming home and shutting himself in for the night. Then she padded her way back into the shared bedroom.
Dick lay across his bed, body contorted into an unimaginably uncomfortable position, but he looked content, so she decided not to prod him with a hanger. The girl looked about the space and noticed that he'd put up his own poster- The Flying Graysons. She winced at the sight. If you didn't know the story, you weren't a true Gothamite.
And something clicked in her head. Jade, who had told her the story hundreds upon hundreds of times, had always mentioned that Batman took down the man who murdered the trapeze family. She never added the fact that Robin had appeared shortly after, nor had she thrown in that there were two survivors. To Artemis, it suddenly made sense.
Artemis brushed some hair away from his face, which caused him to subconsciously twitch. She decided not to touch him anymore.
Instead, she began looking around the room for other changes. She saw that the nightstand's drawer was still slightly open. Her closet door was ajar. The sun had gone down outside, but nothing major was out of place. Both of their beds were still perfectly made with army-like precision.
So Artemis reached over and pulled open the drawer. Her blue-gray gaze instantly caught sight of the two picture frames nestled within. Silently, she picked them up and analyzed each. One was of Dick and his parents. The second was of Dick and Bruce. She flipped each over and looked at the backsides. The one of Dick and Bruce seemed untouched.
Artemis tucked the one of Dick and his parents back in the drawer and made sure to close it this time. Upon leaving, she pushed the closet door shut and decided to let Richard sleep. Heading for the door, Artemis noticed one last change in the room: her Alice in Wonderland poster was once more pinned to the wall.
The girl smiled before departing.
"Red," she called into his apartment just before the door slammed behind her. "I think we've got the will."
Roy appeared from the back bedroom, his hair wet and messy. The older archer wore no shirt, his native tattoos being the only mark on his bare torso. "You have what now?" he asked, rubbing his head with a towel.
"The will." She put the picture frame on the kitchen table. "I think it's in here."
His eyes narrowed in her direction. "You haven't looked yet?" he asked in disbelief, tossing the towel over the back of the couch and approaching his fellow archer.
"No."
"Well come on, let's crack that sucker open and see where he goes." Roy reached for the frame only to have Artemis's hand clasp over his. Their eyes met. "What're you-"
"Red, do we really want to open this?"
His gaze narrowed.
"If we open this, he may not be able to stay, Roy."
It took a few moments of processing, but he understood. The crimson archer pushed back a kitchen chair and sat down, rubbing a hand over his face and trying to take this in. "So we've been searching for this will only to not actually look at it?"
"They could take him away from us, Roy." She swallowed hard, terrified of losing him. Both of them, really. It was a lonely existence, just her and her mother. She didn't want to lose the best things that ever happened to her. Roy and Dick were like her brothers. Annoying bastards, sure, but they were loyal 'til the end and she would give anything for them. Family was family. "Do we really want to look? Do we want to risk losing him to the League? Or even child services?"
Harper groaned. "God, he can't go back there. Child services screwed him up real bad the first time around, I'd hate to see what it would do to him now..."
Artemis decided she wouldn't ask.
Roy gave a low sigh and cracked his knuckles. A few seconds later, he was snatching the picture frame from Artemis and flipping it over.
"Roy-!"
"If we don't like it," he said slowly, "we put it back and no one saw anything, understand?" He gave her a look, and as soon as he saw her nod, he began to open the backing, taking it off.
A neatly folded piece of paper was inside.
"Shit," breathed Artemis darkly, turning around as if not looking would change the outcome.
Roy actually chuckled and kicked her ankle under the table. Then, after she sent him a death glare, he began unfolding it and finally checked. "Yeah, this is it alright."
Artemis did not want to be in the room. She wanted to be back in her own apartment making dinner like they'd never found it.
Roy cleared his throat and sighed. "It says that he-"
As if summoned, the door opened and a sleepy-eyed Dick pushed his way in. His eyes did find the paper, but it didn't concern him much. His voice came out hoarse. "Barry called."
The first thing on the archers' minds: Wally.
A/N: Leave a review, thanks for reading.
~Sky
