Chapter 12

Artemis stood in the doorway, her mouth agape.

Jade slipped off her counter and removed her mask in a huff. "I thought we could talk, but since you have company I'll see myself out."

"Wait!" Artemis approached Jade, who had begun opening a window by the sink. She stopped a few feet from her typically absent sibling. "What are you here for?"

Jade began to grin then stopped. Artemis knew Jade's games and as much as Jade hid behind them Artemis had grown tired of playing. "Tomorrow is the anniversary." Jade looked down.

Artemis knew what she meant. Tomorrow was the anniversary of Lian's death. "Do you want to stay? For a while or for the night?"

Jade shook her head, "No. I do want to know his name." Jade pointed at William.

"Wu," William said taking a moment to step forward to stand beside Artemis, "William Wu."

Jade took a long breath out and gave Artemis a warning look. "You know who he is. Why him?"

"Why Will?" Jade began her walk to the window again. "Have a good night." She slipped out.

Artemis walked forward and let her hand rest on the window for a moment. She closed it quietly.

William hadn't moved. He wanted to mention that the interaction seemed cold, unsatisfying, or maybe harsh, but was that his place? "Hey," he whispered, "You good?"

"I'm alright. Jade is on a sinking ship."

William wanted to ask what that meant, but Artemis seemed wrapped up in her own thoughts. "Why don't we take our coats off and I make French toast."

Artemis raised her eyebrow at him. "French toast?"

William huffed and smiled. "Yes, French toast. It's not too sweet, but still filling."

"Okay then." Artemis took William's jacket and set it on the back of her couch. Brucely chose that moment to sleepily come out of the bedroom, sniff the newcomers, and fall asleep on the couch. "Some guard dog I have," Artemis muttered.

William knew that they needed to have a serious talk about their families. They had mentioned it and knew something would come, but things were happening a lot faster than anticipated. It sucked honestly. Where on earth did she keep her cinnamon?

Artemis came back over and sat on her chair. "Want help?"

"Nope. I like making French toast."

Artemis sighed her consent.

"By the way," William paused in his work to look at her, "We don't have to talk right now, but we should talk about family things."

"No, we should go ahead and talk. I didn't think we'd be at this point yet."

William handed her a plate with two pieces of French toast and went back to the stove. "I'll go first since we originally came up here to talk about mine. I don't believe my mother will try to kill you. I told her to come to me first with anything she finds and being the honorific zealot," William turned to smirk at Artemis, "that she is, I believe she will hold to that." He finished making his slices of toast, put the supplies in the sink, and went to sit beside her.

"That being said I also don't know what she will think of someone who turned her back on the life, but your pedigree may play into your favor. She can't touch you without declaring war on your family and the league. Since she's a leader of the league of assassins now she has more power, but the likeliness of attack is low. I doubt people would back her up. Plus you can definitely defend yourself in a fight."

Artemis nodded her head. "So the likeliness of her attacking is low. She doesn't seem like someone who would mettle."

"Not her style, but that's not to say she won't appear at inopportune times. I doubt we'll see her for a while, but we should expect her to be popping in."

"I think I can handle that."

William took Artemis's plate and his and put them in the sink and began running water. Artemis came beside him with a towel in hand prepared to dry dishes.

"So, now it's my turn," Artemis said. She watched him wash the plate she had just eaten off of. She liked her plates. She'd picked them up from a thrift store in Gotham. They were white with yellow curly-cues on the rim. At least her whole bathroom wasn't yellow. The thought made her smile.

"Hmm," William grunted getting her attention. Artemis looked up.

"I guess I should start by giving more backstory to recent family events. Jade and Will had an up and down relationship. She was in and out as she pleased and he got into drugs. After Lian was born they held it together for a while, but Jade ultimately left and Will wasn't one hundred percent yet, so I moved in to help out." Artemis took the plate from William, dried it, and put it away.

"It was good for a while. Then Lian was killed in an attempt to get back at Cheshire and Will fell back on old habits. Habits Jade introduced him to. He overdosed. I finished my degree and looked for jobs. I'd been wishy washy on being a hero or leaving the life. After that I was done."

William paused in his cleaning. "You and Jade don't seem to get along very well."

"Jade and I haven't had a chance to actually get along since she ran away from home. Other stuff was always happening or more important. Being on opposite sides didn't help much."

William didn't feel like that was all of it, so he waited.

"Jade's not okay. She needs help that no one can give her. She therapy and safety that I can't give her. At first when she popped up I tried to talk her into staying with me or just taking a minute to breathe, but she can't. She doesn't want to die."

William realized what it was that was bothering him and he was more annoyed that she was avoiding it. "You made a comment to her about Will. Why?"

"I loved him."

William nearly dropped the spatula back into the water.

Artemis laughingly huffed, "Not like that. We got each other through a lot and depended on each other for a lot. I'd never had that with someone before and I doubt I will ever again. When him and Lian died I blamed Jade. I guess I still blame her. I just got tired of cleaning up her mess and in the end it didn't even work."

William put the last of the dirty dishes in the drying rack. Artemis laid the towel over them to do later.

"For current purposes Jade won't be a problem. She's too wrapped up in her own hurt. My dad may mettle, but he's mostly stayed out of my life."

William pulled Artemis to him and kissed her forehead. Artemis wrapped her arms around his torso and held on. They both took deep breaths.

William broke the silence first, "I'm glad we really talked."

"Me too," Artemis said, though it was muffled by his shirt. "It's late. Do you want to sleep over?" Artemis moved her head to make eye contact.

"Sure, I can take the couch this time though."

"Or you can sleep in my bed."

William was stunned. He gave Artemis a questioning look.

"I do mean sleep," she chuckled.

William smiled. "I was just making sure."

"I will finish putting dishes away, the bathroom is attached to the bedroom, so you can go ahead and get comfortable. If you want a shirt or something let me know. I have an unused toothbrush in the cabinet."

"Okay, I'll let you know when I'm ready."

A few minutes later Artemis walked into her room to see William in blue boxers brushing his teeth. "I'll change in here if you'll go back to the bathroom."

William smiled a white, foamy smile and shut the door behind him. Artemis put on her yoga pants, took off her bra, and threw on a tank top. She knocked on the bathroom door. "Can I brush my teeth?"

William pushed the door open now with a toothy grin. "I'll hop in the bed."

Artemis smiled to herself as she brushed her teeth. She took a quick moment to shave her armpits before heading back to the bedroom. William had turned on the lamp sitting on the bedside table and turned off the overhead light. Artemis slipped under the covers and laid her head on William's chest. He kissed her forehead and turned off the light.