A/N: I feel terrible. I haven't written in a while even though it's the holidays and I promised myself I would...
On the upside, I went to Supanova! It was super fun and I bought heaps of GoT and Adventure Time stuff, and I even saw a photo print for YJ which had been drawn by some talented artist and it was amazing! I was kinda sad and disappointed at the lack of YJ stuff there although it's understandable considering it's not as recent as the other fandoms.
It's the holidays and I haven't been as active as I would like, but I really appreciated all the emails I got whilst I was too 'busy' watching TV and a whole lot of other stuff. Thank you all! It really makes my day even if it's just an email :)
TWENTY ONE FOLLOWS! :D
Thank you to: Angelgirl18647, BerryEbilBunny, Black Bat Girl, Cinomen, GorgeousChaos, Misa3000, MusicLoverBLD, Ninja Bagel, Phantresss212012, Saturngirl16, Zatanna Carrile, ZeroV, billyisabelo, ingrid, littlea16, maewander25, marinelife2299, spitfireforever, star-eye, the royal bookworm of all dork, thestoryreader99, Arrowlover17, BittyCatt, doggybye, kateygirl7
(Wow this is heaps to type up, I love you guys all so much. Thanks for reading!)
Chapter 7: The Wests
"You owe me fifty bucks," Artemis stated, her stomach feeling heavy as she stared at the front porch and the mailbox that said 'West' in front of her.
"Only fifty?" Robin replied, amused at the sudden pale complexion of the archers face.
"How about only a hundred more?"
The boy shrugged. "Sure thang, chicken wang."
Noticing that she was standing frozen before the steps, Robin grabbed her forearm and pulled her towards the door.
"Relax, Artemis. We'll laugh about this someday."
At his words, the archer's grey eyes snapped towards him, feeling a sense of déjà vu as she stared at his back. Before she could connect the dots, however, the front door swung open and a middle-aged woman with fiery red hair smiled at them.
"Happy birthday, Mrs. West," Robin greeted, handing her a small envelope with a ribbon on it.
"Robin," she laughed, and Artemis realised where Wally's infectious grin came from. "You didn't have to."
Robin shrugged. "It's only a small envelope."
Mary West's eyes narrowed suspiciously at him in a light-hearted manner, but she said nothing else and she turned to the blonde girl standing stock-still on her front porch.
"You must be Artemis, Green Arrow's niece. I've heard a lot about you," she smiled, noting how the girl's shoulders tensed and her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
The woman was telling the truth, of course, having heard Wally's rants over the months about how she was a thorn in his side, but she also knew from a mother's instinct that her son could be a bit bull-headed when it came to his feelings. The girl was not by any standards below average-and from the slight scrunch of her brows and her defensive stance, Mary knew the girl was certainly a challenge to handle.
Artemis handed the welcoming woman a wrapped gift with an apologetic smile on her slightly sheepish face, as if she was sorry for intruding. "Happy birthday. I'm sorry I wasn't sure what you liked, and it was kind of a late notice," Artemis sent a brief glare at the grinning boy next to her.
"Thank you," Wally's mother replied genuinely, a little touched and gestured for them to enter the house. "And don't feel shy, I invited the team and I'm glad you could've made it. Come in and have a seat, Wally's inside."
Artemis stared at the retreating figure of Mary West and couldn't help feeling envious of Wally that he'd had such loving parents whilst growing up. Though it wasn't that she didn't love her own mother dearly, but she had only experienced motherly care for a small part of her life. It explained why loyalty was so important to the speedster, and Artemis knew that his parents meant everything to Wally.
To say Wally was surprised would've been an understatement. He had grinned when he had caught sight of his best friend entering the dining room and had given a little wave, but his hand froze when he saw who followed next.
Artemis. Pain in the arse Artemis was in his house, talking to his mother, with whom he'd shared his negative thoughts about her, and she had a bright smile on her face- the brightest he'd ever seen her show in his presence.
A part of him was dying of embarrassment considering he'd never expected his mom to meet the bane of his existence and actually like her, but the other larger part sort of revelled at the fact that she was here, and that she didn't seem to mind it at all. In fact, she even sent him a warm smile from across the table before greeting the rest of the room.
He couldn't help but notice her appearance, and for someone who hated skirts, it was clear that skirts did not hate her back. The knit vest she wore over her white cotton shirt fitted snugly against her torso, and Wally would've been lying if he said she was ugly. Artemis was never ugly.
He felt the usual warmth of blood rush into his face at his thoughts, and with impeccable timing, he caught his Uncle Barry's stare on his left side. The man lifted a blonde eyebrow in question, and Wally would've groaned into his hands, completely mortified if he wasn't suddenly addressed by the blonde herself.
"How are you?" She asked, her tone softer as she remembered their conversation a couple days ago.
Wally blinked, trying not to stare again at the wisps of hair that constantly slipped out of her hair tie, and allow his earlier thoughts to resurface. "Scared for my life," he finally answered with as much normalcy as he could muster, his eyes dropping down to the fork on the table in front of her, and she followed his gaze before uncharacteristically bursting out in laughter.
Robin turned his attention to his friends, who surprisingly seemed to be getting on well for once. "What's so funny?"
"My forking near-death experience," Wally deadpanned and Artemis rolled her eyes at his overdramatic pun.
"I stabbed him to the couch with a fork," Artemis shrugged, leaning back in her seat. Uncle Barry, who overheard the conversation whipped around suddenly with his eyes wide.
"Very nearly missing my wrist, where a major artery is and I could've bled to death gruesomely," Wally added for his uncle's benefit.
"I never miss," Artemis snorted.
"Except against alien robots that vaporise you into thin air."
"I didn't miss, it just didn't die."
"But you did," his voice cracked at the end, but he covered it with a devilish grin, as if challenging the blonde.
Robin choked from beside Artemis, before looking up at his best friend with wide eyes and glancing between him and the archer.
The archer glared at Wally and kicked her foot in his general direction, expecting him to jump from his seat and yelp, except a blonde man who sat next to him flinched instead and he turned to her with wide eyes.
"I'm so sorry, I was aiming for that," she said, lifting her chin towards the redhead's direction.
The Flash roared with laughter, shaking his head at the youths. He was beginning to suspect there was something more underlying beneath the casual banter, considering he'd caught his nephew's blush earlier and he had had enough experiences to know the signs. However, gathering from the blonde's narrowed eyes and suddenly deadly aura, Barry Allen almost felt sorry for his protégé.
He leaned in close to his nephew and whispered, "She seems like a spitfire."
He'd only intended to speak his mind, but the speedster's eyes widened and his face went white as he stared at the archer in front of him whilst the latter glared at them, having heard what he said.
"With all due respect, sir, I'd prefer it next time if you spoke about me, to me."
The man laughed, but seemed apologetic as he smiled at her. "Sir makes me feel like old Garrick over there-" He gestured towards an old couple that was laughing at something another redhead lady was saying. "Call me Barry. I'm Wally's uncle."
"I'm Artemis," she replied in a flat tone, her eyes still narrowed.
"I've heard," Barry smiled with a twinkle in his eye. There was something about the man Artemis couldn't put her finger on, and it unnerved her. He looked like he knew something that she didn't, and her eyes slid to Wally, who was now looking flustered with his cheeks aflame.
"Your face is as red as your hair." She remarked with an eyebrow raised.
"Uh-yeah. Let's just eat. Happy Birthday, mom!" he yelled suddenly, and started stuffing his face.
Robin looked at Wally and shook his head, before echoing a birthday greeting with the rest of the table.
The Wests, as Artemis came to realise, were a picture perfect bunch. Their family were like the reruns she liked to watch on late nights, where everyone behaved how their stereotypical role dictated they would, and though most would think it was an act, Artemis was actually enjoying herself.
They were all gathered at the living room playing charades, and the archer laughed as Robin mimed a gun before executing a perfect backflip.
"Well done, boy," Mr. Garrick said, and Robin bowed.
Jay Garrick, she realised not too long after, was the Flash. The one and only original Flash, which made her question the identity of Barry Allen, but considering she caught him saving a falling plate during clean up with reflexes that blurred in her eyes, she immediately knew why Wally's uncle seemed so familiar with her.
"It's a film right?" asked Aunt Iris. "Then Matrix, it's the Matrix!" the redhead woman called out, who Artemis understood as Wally's maternal aunt and The Flash's wife.
Artemis stared at the scene playing in front of her, feeling a little lost as she realised the connections that went through this family. She'd always thought that having secret identity meant isolation, that the secret would always be yours to keep alone, forever. But this family was the exact opposite of the belief she'd held for years, and she couldn't help but blink when she thought about the close connections they held with each other. They weren't just superheroes with similar powers, they were a family.
The sound of applause broke her thoughts, and she clapped along, before realising that it was her turn to go up next.
"C'mon, Artemis! We have to win!" yelled Barry from the couch, and she smirked at him as she took a piece of paper from the fish bowl in the middle of the room.
Legolas Greenleaf, it read. A smile carved itself onto her face and she shook her head, chuckling to herself. She raised an eyebrow at her team members: Robin, Barry, Rudolph and Joan, before untying her hair so that the blonde curtain draped behind her shoulders, and settled into a standard archer stance.
She mimed shooting a few arrows, before pointing to her ears, and miming wearing the ring.
"Lord of the Rings!" Wally interjected, waving his hand in the air excitedly, but Artemis shook her head and mimed shooting a few arrows again.
Barry jumped to his feet. ""The elf- what's his name- Legolas!"
Artemis laughed and tapped her nose.
"Are you serious?" Wally asked. "Who was the idiot who put that in the bowl?"
"The avid Lord of the Rings fan in this room: you," Rudolph answered, and Wally grumbled, his ears red as he moved towards the centre of the room for his turn.
Artemis turned to walk back to her seat, and Wally caught a flowery scent as her hair followed behind her, and he stared at the lengthy strands before a throat cleared in the room.
It was his uncle's yet again, and he blushed profusely, before fumbling for a piece of paper in the bowl.
Stupid Robin, that Dick, inviting Artemis to his mother's birthday party and throwing him off his game.
He wanted to be mad at Robin for bringing her along, or Artemis for making him feel weird, but as he acted out the infamous Titanic scene, he couldn't help watching the archer laugh through the corner of his eyes, and he grinned, feeling oddly triumphant for some reason.
She had a nice laugh, Wally realised.
Thank you so much to everyone, I know I say it a lot but it's not enough to show how grateful I am. This is only chapter 7, and I've planned up to chapter 12 but I'm stuck. I'M STUCK. I'LL GET MYSELF OUTTA THIS SOMEHOW.