Artemis was chewing on her fingernails as she stewed in guilt. The situation was messy and she didn't really think herself in the wrong, but that kid was definitely wrong in the head and it felt like, despite the closeness of their ages, she was supposed to be the adult in this situation.
Well. She wasn't in danger of being outed anymore. She didn't particularly care, Grayson should look after himself.
Alright, so she did care, but Grayson was still his own person and didn't need her to coddle him. No matter how much she wanted to.
She went to bed, thinking to forget what other-Robin told her about the kid.
It was an early morning in the Cave when they bid Red X and Robin goodbye. Robin's team had finally reached out to them, as he'd expected. Dick had so much to ask his double still, but he didn't have the time, and he was kind of grateful for it. Sometimes there was good in not knowing, in being pleasantly surprised.
Surprises weren't exactly a favored thing in their line of work, but his questions leaned more on the personal side anyways.
Afterwards, he noticed that Artemis looked almost constipated sitting around and moping, which almost made him laugh. He'd seen the footage of her conversation with Mallory, having slipped a small recording device onto the guy the moment he started acting nice.
Initially, he considered the emotional part of it more, but he did think it could be a setup. The camera revealed that it most probably wasn't, and he was relieved, left to make up his mind about the guy.
And maybe send CPS to his house, because goddamn that was several layers of child neglect. Especially the part where he doubled over from a headache and had to crawl to the bathroom to dry swallow some pills while his brother was passed out on the couch. That was rough.
He could see in Artemis' eyes that she let go. That she was going to forgive, forget. Or just distance herself, probably. That was for the best, he was glad he could count on her to make a good choice.
A few days later at school, Dick was hanging out with his usual group of friends. Andy wasn't completely integrated with them yet and his past record of bullying would probably sour things with them if he were to suddenly join in. They were warming up tı him, though, and Dick was happy to see it.
Artemis went to give him a curt apology once but otherwise kept away from him. The threat of blackmail is no joke and one couldn't blame her.
Besides that, after an anonymous tip, William Mallory was sent to rehab and Andy was temporarily moved to Gotham Academy's dorm. Someone, a detective that was involved with his case a few years ago, was already making arrangements to take him in for the time being. He was also finally being treated for his symptoms and the people who knew him could say that he'd become a whole new person. Not a perfect one, but one who was healing.
And, who knows, Andy thought, one day Grayson might pity me enough to give me a try. He felt content.
Wooh boy. It's been a while, huh? I do realize that this is a pretty crappy ending. None of the action I hinted at is here. I guess it's just my personal falling out with the fic, but as my first multi-chapter I've always felt it was mocking me. Like it was the reason I've never finished any multi-chapter fic until now. Though, with how sub par this is, it doesn't count, does it? Sorry for anyone that might've enjoyed this. I'm not even in the DC fandom anymore, to be honest. Just wanted to bring some closure. If you're reading this, thanks for sticking around!