Hey guys! I'm back! I'm doing well at this aren't I? Anyway, I am super excited for you to read this chapter, mainly because it contains something cute but you will find that out later *grins suspiciously*
Oh! AND I realised that this whole fic has been set in one day! I've spent two and a half years writing about one day. I am a terrible person. I also have no sense of time. Anyway, I'm going to move on the days in this chapter (maybe by one day, I'm not entirely sure) and get this going into an actual plot because I feel as though I'm just throwing things in there whenever I can. So, on with the story~
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN YOUNG JUSTICE OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS APART FROM THE CHARACTERS THAT I MADE UP. (This wasn't meant to be in caps I just forgot to turn it off)
Artemis' P.O.V.
During the flight back on the bioship, Megan gave me spare clothes and Kaldur was patching Robin up the best he could before we got back to the mountain. I'm not going to lie, I am absolutely petrified. I can't lose him. I have had some time to stop and think now and I have decided that life without Robin is not good. Understatement of the century. It would be terrible, not even that, it would be devastating. Just thinking about the fact that he has lost blood makes me upset, let alone that he is probably dying.
I looked over to where he was on a bed at the back of the ship. He had a split lip, a bruised jaw and a bloody nose. And, of course, the gaping stab wound in his shoulder. Kaldur and Red had been trying to find Sports Master when the hospital sent out a notification for a missing patient; Red is now trying to locate him by flying around the warehouse we were in, but so far no luck. Megan and Connor were taking care of mum, to make sure he wouldn't attack her too; Connor is still keeping watch and will notify us if anything does happen. I have just found out that Robin and Wally were supposed to be looking after me, no one knows what Wally is doing now, but Black Canary is going to call him soon.
Today has been one hell of a day. First of all, seeing Rob in the gym and sparring with him, then on the beach with the whole, me and Rob are dating thing, and then more training with Rob, then the accident which started this whole thing, then Dick visiting me in hospital, saying I'm his girlfriend, then came the Venom, the coma, the waking up only to fall unconscious again, the kidnapping, the Sports Master. Rob. It all came back to him. If today has shown me anything, it's how much he cares about his teammates, about me. I also have realised one more thing, it is something I don't want to feel, but I do, I feel it hard. I like him. Rob. As in, like like him. I don't know why I feel it or how I came to realise it but I do. It hurts me more than anything else to think that he could get hurt, and it's kind of worrying how much it hurts. Just thinking about it I get worried, but when it actually happens, like now... my heart feels like it's tearing itself into pieces.
I can't do anything about it though. Nothing. We are best friends, I mean, everyone knows that it will never work out. Never. Something will happen, we will break up and then it would be super awkward for the rest of our lives. The friendship would be gone. I don't want to risk that, I can't risk it. He is too valuable to me. Plus, there is the whole issue of: does he actually like me back? My answer, probably not, I mean he is just the type of person to be friendly with me, nothing more.
I sighed, looked over at Rob and suddenly had the overwhelming urge to cry. Gees, this is how I know I am completely and utterly ruined. Crying because of a boy? I never thought that this day would come. Nevertheless, I let the tears spill out onto my cheeks, I just wanted to talk to him, for him to comfort me and tell me it was going to be alright, like Dick did at the hospital.
"Artemis? He's going to be alright. The bleeding has stopped mostly and the wound didn't go all the way through, he will be fine." It was Kaldur, he stroked the top of my arm, his eyes looking at me worriedly.
"Thanks, I know... It's just... I feel like this is all my fault. Everything. Like, if I had checked that mats were by the trampoline, I wouldn't have had to go to hospital or take the Venom, and then Sports Master wouldn't have come and Robin wouldn't be hurt, and no one else would be in danger."
"Maybe it would have happened that way, but now we have found out that Sports Master is doing something that we didn't know of before, and Robin is going to be fine, you are much better, everything will be alright. It may take some time, but it will be alright. I promise you." He looked into my eyes and I nodded, trying to blink back the tears that were flowing down non-stop.
"We're here." Megan said as she parked the bioship neatly in the cave. I stood up and followed them as they carried Robin out of the ship. Batman was standing there, waiting and as soon as he saw Rob he took him from Megan and Kaldur's arms and ran to the medical room. Canary greeted us and hugged me gently, before helping me to my room, I was exhausted, it was about midnight and even though I had been unconscious for most of the day, sleep was still beckoning me. I got dressed into my pyjamas and slipped into bed, Black Canary then came in to double check on me.
"How are you doing?"
"Fine, just tired, how is Rob?"
"He will be fine, don't worry too much about him."
"How?"
"What do you mean, how?"
"How can I not worry? He's my team mate, my best friend, my c-"
"Your what?"
"My friend. Just my friend."
"Just your friend?" I stayed silent. I wanted to tell someone, and I wanted it to be someone I knew I could trust; it's not that I can't trust Black Canary, its just... Well, she could tell Batman, and I know that he doesn't approve of dating in the team, especially after the rant he gave Connor and Megan. Maybe I could just talk to Dick about it... No he is not the type of person to talk to about your crush, what about Babs? No. That wouldn't work either, I feel like they need to know him to know what I'm talking about.
"Artemis? What do you mean?"
"Do you promise not to tell anyone?"
"It depends on what you're going to tell me, but if it's what I think you are going to say, then I promise. Especially not Batman." I smiled a small smile as thanks to her and then took a deep breath in.
"I like him. Robin. As in, like like him. And, I don't know what to do about it. I mean, we're team mates, best friends. I don't want to ruin anything! And if he doesn't like me back then it'll just get really awkward and I don't want to lose anything between us."
"Right..."
"Is this totally terrible? Am I an awful person?"
"No, Artemis. This is human nature. I mean, yes, it would probably complicate things if you two got together, just like it did with Megan and Connor. But look at them now, they're fine, and so is everyone else. Plus, you and Rob are so cute together so I don't think Batman would mind that much." She grinned.
"But what if he doesn't like me back?"
"Seriously, you're asking that question?" I nodded, confused. I mean, why wouldn't I ask that question? Everyone asks it if they like someone.
"It doesn't matter, just try to find out for yourself. Plus, I'm sure that, by tomorrow, he will be up and running about like his usual self. So try not to worry and get to sleep." I nodded and snuggled down into my duvet, trying to keep my mind off of a certain bird.
"Oh, Artemis, one more thing?"
"Mm?"
"Can I tell Green Arrow?"
"No way! That would be so awkward! You know what he's like! He won't stop asking questions about it! No! That is almost as bad as telling your dad you've had sex or something, and then describing what it was like to him! No way!"
"Alright, alright, I'll tell him after your next patrol together!" She laughed and walked out. Oh my goodness, I am going to die.
~~Next Day~~
Robin's P.O.V.
I woke up with a burning pain going through my shoulder and breathed in through clenched teeth when I tried to sit myself up. I looked at the time, it was 12:00 in the afternoon. I then looked around the room. I was back in the cave, in the medical room. It was white with a light blue wall behind me and the sheets of the bed matched it. Batman was sitting next to me, asleep in the chair with his head tilted backwards. I laughed a bit at the sight, he never likes anyone watching him sleep, so this was a rare opportunity. But as I laughed, one of his eyes slowly opened and glared at me.
"You're awake."
"Yes," I said, trying to stop my face from grinning, "So are you."
"Yes, I was never asleep." I couldn't help myself then, I grinned a huge grin.
"Okay, whatever you say."
"Shut up."
"Language."
"I didn't swear."
"Yes, but you were rude." He rolled his eyes at me, but there was the tiniest hint of amusement, you would only be able to see it if you knew him well and even then you would probably need a microscope, unless you were me of course.
We sat in a comfortable silence for a short while, before he said something,
"How could you go out on your own? You know how dangerous Sports Master is, you could have been killed! You almost were! You said Wally was going to go with you, but when we contacted him, he said that he was with that Millie girl and you said that you would go on your own! I asked why he didn't go with you and he said that you insisted. I can't blame him for this, so why did you put yourself and Artemis in danger?"
"How is she? Is she alright? She's not hurt?" I ignored all of his questions, I just needed to know about her first. If anything had happened to her, it would be fault after all.
"She's fine, no thanks to you, just tired. Now tell me why you went on your own." I hesitated, deep down I know why, but I'm not ready to admit it, not just yet, and especially not to Batman of all people.
"Wally was having a good time, I didn't want to ruin it for him. Plus, you said yourself that we needed someone to keep an eye on Millie, and who better than Wally?"
"I said that we'd keep an eye on her, I didn't say that one of you did. Anyway, you should have known that Artemis was more at risk than that girl, you should have brought back up."
"Well, I didn't. I'm sorry if it was a mistake, but we are all fine now. Artemis is safe. We know something we didn't and we can help put a stop to this whole Venom operation. If anything, it was almost worth getting kidnapped." It was silent again after that, and I looked up to see what Batman was doing. I was more than surprised when I saw him looking- no, studying- me.
"What?" I asked, suspicious of what he was thinking.
"You like her."
"What!"
"You like her. Artemis, you like her." It wasn't a question.
"Um... Yeah, she's my friend." Batman gave me a 'seriously?' look and said,
"You know what I mean. You like like her."
"No I don't!"
"You can't hide it from me, I'm a detective."
"Well, you must be a pretty terrible detective to think that. It's not true."
"You know how I feel about dating within the team. You'll probably end up having some argument and then it will destroy your relationship and team work."
"You think I don't know that? That's why I'm not admitting it. If I don't admit it, it will go away and we can pretend like nothing happened! It's just a stupid crush that I'll get over. I'm a hormonal teenager, I must be allowed to have these feelings."
"It doesn't work that way, Robin. Believe me, I know, just because it's a crush doesn't mean that it won't turn into something else, something more. It doesn't go away, just like that, it will take time. I know you know that, but maybe, with Artemis it won't go away, maybe, because you see her so often, these little feelings will keep coming back, whether you want them to or not." I looked at him, knowing he was right. He then stood up and said,
"You'll be fine to get up when you're ready, you're just not allowed on patrol or any missions, and no training... Think about what I said, maybe you should spend less time with her. It will help." I looked at him, alarmed.
"Spend less time with her? What is this? You can't stop me from seeing her!"
"It's just some advice, if you want these feelings to go away and for things to go back to normal, then you should take it. You spend double the amount of time with her than all of the others, maybe in your normal life, you should keep some distance." I kept on looking at him in disbelief, I couldn't think of anything to say and he just walked out. I guess the reason I couldn't think of a retort was because he's right, I just couldn't accept it.
Artemis' P.O.V.
I was sitting in the living room after a long talk with everyone, catching them all up on what happened. Connor finally returned saying that there is no sign of the Sports Master near mum and that he has set up some alarms around the apartment to make sure that if anyone but her or me enter, we will be notified. Red came back from the warehouse, with nothing to show that Sports Master was even there, let alone where he went. Black Canary called Wally, and he said he'll be over soon. I am so going to kill him for letting Rob go out on his own, after Batman of course. I was still worried about him, Rob, that is. Even though Batman said that he was fine and stayed in there all night (I think he's still in there now, even though its 1 in the afternoon) just to keep an eye on him, I am still worried.
I checked the notifications on my phone to keep my mind preoccupied.
14 Missed Calls: Dick
23 New Messages: Dick
2 Missed Calls: Babs
8 New Texts: Babs
I was shocked, all of these were from the past hour! Why would they be doing that? I clicked on the messages from Dick first.
From Dick:
Received at 12:16
Artemis, where are you? The hospital sent out a missing person on you! I just saw it on the news. Are you alright?
From Dick:
Received at 12:16
Please answer, let me know you're alright.
From Dick:
Received at 12:17
Please Artemis, where are you?
From Dick:
Received at 12:25
You were kidnapped?! Please Artemis, reply!
From Dick:
Received at 12:25
A witness said that Batman's sidekick was there. Did he help you?
From Dick:
Received at 12:26
Please. They said there was blood at the scene. Answer me.
From Dick:
Received at 12:26
Let me know you're alright.
From Dick:
Received at 12:32
I need you to tell me if you're alright. Please be okay, I'm begging you.
From Dick:
Received at 12:34
I need you to be alright.
From Dick:
Received at 12:42
I need you.
My heart was pounding, I didn't know what to do or think. I could feel the hurt he felt through the texts. Tears clouded my vision, there were at least ten other messages, but I couldn't read them. I needed to tell him that I was alright. That I'm okay. That I'm alive. That I need him too.
But I can't.
Red Tornado is talking to the authorities about it. Telling them that I'm okay, that they'll bring me back as soon as possible. I can't tell him until after that. Until I'm home.
I looked at the other messages from Babs, hers were similar. I finally listened to the voicemail that Dick left on his last call at 12:53.
'Artemis... Please... Wherever you are, be safe. I'm begging you, I don't know what I would do without you... You're my best friend. Please Arty... Please.' He was crying. I've never heard him cry before. It broke my heart. And the fact that he was crying about me made it ten times worse.
Still trying (and failing) to blink back the tears in my eyes, I was about to give in and call him. No one else was in the room, so it couldn't hurt. Just as I was about to press my finger on the call button, I heard footsteps come through the doorway. I quickly wiped my tears away and looked up, only to have my face drenched with them as I saw who it was.
"Robin..." I choked out. I ran from my seat and leaped into his arms, tears pouring down my face as I crushed him in a tight embrace. I heard him grunt and pulled away, apologising.
"I'm sorry, d-did I hurt you?" I choked out, still crying.
"No, it's fine, come here." He said, opening one of his arms wide, since the other was in a sling. I crushed him in a hug again, my hot tears seeping into his t-shirt as I shook from my sobs. His good arm was around my back, squeezing me with all his might.
I heard him sniffle into my hair and pulled back again, just to see a tear peeking out from behind his sunglasses.
"You're crying." I said with a smile.
"Shut up. So are you." He smiled back. We stood there for a while, in each others arms, appreciating each others company.
"I missed you." He whispered into my hair.
"It's been one day."
"Yeah but it was one hell of a day. I mean, a lot happened, didn't it?"
"You can say that again," I smiled, "I haven't spoken to you properly since yesterday at the hospital, before I took the Venom, you know, before Dick came back."
"How are you feeling? I mean, you just woke up from a coma just to be kidnapped. Plus, we don't know any of the side effects you might feel from Venom."
"Honestly, I'm still really tired, even though I had 11 hours sleep last night, and I have a few aches and pains. But, I could be worse. I'm pretty sure my hand-eye-coordination is fine, which is a plus because that's what the Venom was supposed to help with."
"Good, that's good. Your bruise is gone too, so you don't look like Martian Manhunter anymore."
"I looked like Martian Manhunter?! Why didn't you tell me it was that bad?"
"Because I knew you'd overreact-"
"I would not overrea-"
"See? You're overreacting. Anyway, it's good to see that you're okay, but you're going to have to get going soon because you've got to get back to your normal life, Miss Crock." I stared at him in alarm.
"You know my name?"
"Everyone does, remember? The team said that it would be for everyone's benefit if we knew everyone's secret identities."
"Yeah, I know, it's just that... you weren't there when we said that so I assumed you didn't know."
"Don't make assumptions Artemis. Red told me."
"Okay, fine. So, what's your name then?" his eyebrows raised
"My name?"
"Well, we have to know everyone's, don't we? So... Speak up."
"I'm not allowed to, Batman forbids it."
"Why?" I whined, classy, I know.
"Just because, I don't know, ask him yourself." I pouted and glared at him, I really wanted to know.
"Ooooh, the lovebirds are at it again!" Wally. I turned around and glared at him.
"You," I said, pointing to him, "Are dead."
"Why? Come on, it was just a joke!"
"Not because of that! Even though it's no where near true! It's because you let Rob go on his own to help me! You left him alone and he almost died because of it! What on Earth were you thinking?" His face hardened into one of guilt.
"That wasn't my choice. He insisted! I knew it was wrong, but he wouldn't let me, plus, I had to take care of someone else, to make sure they're okay and the Sports Master wouldn't hurt them!"
"Oh yeah, your girlfriend! Is she more important that your best friend? If you knew it was wrong then why didn't you go after him?"
"Because he insisted! And we didn't know how bad the threat was at the time! And I knew that he is more than capable of handling it by himself, and I think that the only reason he didn't handle it by himself was because he cared too much about you! He was too busy trying to get you out of there, when he could have easily won against the Sports Master, while keeping you in there! He cares about you more than you think and more than I thought. But now I know, and I never would have let him go alone if I knew that then." We stared at each other, breathing deeply.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted at you. It wasn't your fault, I shouldn't blame it on you." I apologised.
"It's fine... I shouldn't have shouted either, but I do feel guilty about it," He turned to Rob, "I'm sorry I left you alone, I'll always have your back."
"It's fine, like you said, I insisted and it wasn't your fault, you shouldn't feel guilty about it." They both stood there for a minute before hugging.
I left them like that for a while before I started to get a bit impatient.
"Should I leave you two alone or...?" They released from their hug and smiled.
"Yes, actually that would be much appreciated." Robin grinned.
"And you call us the lovebirds." I said to Wally.
"Shut up Crock-pot."
"Red told you too?" I said in disbelief at my new nickname.
"Yup." He grinned. I'm not too sure that I like this idea of knowing people's secret identities. But then again... Two can play at that game.
"Well, I guess I'll have to have a word with him about that, won't I, East?" He glared at me while Robin and I laughed.
This was good. Everything was back to normal.
Or so I thought.
ME: DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN. Oops. Don't kill me! *Grins apologetically*
KALDUR: Why would they want to do that?
ME: Because I just said everything was fine and then I ruined the nice little moment!
KALDUR: Oh okay, but I'm sure they can't be that mad about it.
ME: You don't know what fans are like... Anyway! I hope you enjoyed that chapter, because I personally thought it was really cute! And I really enjoyed doing the little bromance bit at the end because everyone is all friendly and cute. And yeah. I liked writing it.
KALDUR: Okay then.
ME: *Pouts* you're not very talkative.
KALDUR: Sorry, I guess?
ME:*Eye rolls*moving on... could you do the honours?
KALDUR: Please leave a review and constructive criticism is very welcome!
ME: Yes please thank you! And here is my virtual love *Gives you virtual love in form of cookies and pancakes*
~Anonymouswriter713