Seven years. That was how long it had been since the night that Cameron had accidentally frozen Artemis' blood. Seven long, torturous years of absolute hell.
Cameron lay on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. The hour was late, yet he had no plans for sleeping any time soon. Cameron had a lot of things on his mind, and sleep just wasn't a priority for him at the moment.
As he thought, Cameron absentmindedly sculpted a piece of ice he had in his hands. He didn't carve or cut at the ice, like people normally did when they made ice sculptures. Because of his powers, Cameron was easily able to mold the ice almost like it was clay. He didn't look at what he was sculpting, simply because it didn't matter. He didn't do this to make pretty pieces of art. He did it to keep himself focused.
A few years ago Cameron had discovered that ice sculpting was a good method of keeping his powers under control. Whenever Cameron felt overwhelmed, which was beginning to happen more frequently as he grew older, he would ice sculpt. It gave him something harmless to do with his powers, which significantly decreased the chances of him spontaneously blasting shots of ice at anything that moved.
Besides, it gave him something to do with his hands, which kept his mind from wandering too far. If he began to feel trapped by his thoughts, all he had to do was focus on what the ice between his hands and he'd forget about whatever he was avoiding thinking about. Cameron knew that it probably wasn't healthy for him to avoid his thoughts like that, but he continued to do it because it was a much better alternative than finding himself thinking about something that he really, really didn't want to think about.
Like the fact that Artemis had come by to talk to him earlier that night.
...Shit. Now he was thinking about it again.
It wasn't fair that Cameron still had to deal with this. For seven years he had done what he was supposed to do and stayed away from Artemis. Cameron had done his best to ignore and avoid her, because he knew that that was what it took to keep her safe...from him. The trouble was, Artemis didn't seem to understand this. One would think that after seven years of doing this, Artemis would take the hint and leave him alone, but she didn't. No matter how Cameron treated her, she continued to come around.
Now, that wasn't to say that Artemis came by to see him every night, because she didn't. In fact, there had been a handful of times where Cameron didn't hear from Artemis for a few weeks. But no matter how much time passed between her visits, and no matter how upset she was when she returned to her own room, Artemis always eventually came back around. It was infuriating, but also oddly predictable.
Over the years Cameron had discovered that Artemis had fallen into a type of cycle with her visits. During the first step of the cycle Artemis would come to Cameron's room and basically do the same thing she did when they were younger, before this whole mess happened. She would ask if Cameron wanted to train together, or sneak out, or basically just hang out.
Cameron didn't much like this first phase simply because he had to say 'no' to Artemis, and that was always hard. The more he did it though, the easier it became...yeah, no, that wasn't true. Cameron still hated to say 'no' to Artemis.
After a few days Artemis would realize that Cameron didn't want to hang out, or leave his room at all. At this point, she would begin the second phase of just sitting outside Cameron's room (because he never let her in anymore) and talking to him. That was it. She just talked with him, tried to strike up conversation, even though it was usually just one-sided.
Cameron liked this phase because, well, he liked the sound of Artemis' voice. Sadly, the second phase couldn't last forever. Eventually, Artemis would become irritated with Cameron's lack of proper responses and she would grow angry, which would begin the third, and usually longest, phase.
This phase always began the same way, with Artemis yelling at him. After venting her frustrations at him for a bit, Artemis would finish up with calling him a coward and then she would leave and not return while she was still upset. Often, Artemis would stay angry with him for a while, usually at least a week, sometimes more.
Surprisingly, this was Cameron's favorite part of the cycle. He actually didn't mind Artemis yelling at him. Cameron was so used to having people yell at him and point out his faults that it barely phased him anymore. As for not hearing from Artemis for about a week, Cameron actually looked forward to this part.
Sure, he didn't necessarily like that Artemis was avoiding him, but Cameron was glad that she did. Simply because it was a lot easier to avoid interaction with someone if they couldn't stand being around you.
Eventually though, Artemis would calm down and begin visiting Cameron again, which began the fourth and final phase of the cycle, which was Cameron's least favorite.
Basically, Artemis would stand outside Cameron's room and apologize for getting angry. She would talk about how she knows he must be going through some hard times, but she wants him to know that she would always be there for him. After going on for a bit Artemis would conclude by saying that she could tell he needed some space, and then Artemis would leave him alone for a few nights, only to come right back with phase one again, repeating the cycle.
Cameron absolutely hated this last phase because Artemis just sounded so sincere and understanding, but also extremely vulnerable. Cameron hated hearing the guilt in her voice as she talks to him, as if she thinks this whole thing was her fault. It wasn't though. None of this was Artemis' fault. Cameron was the one who messed everything up, and yet Artemis was apologizing for it.
Cameron could tell that Artemis blamed herself for this whole mess happening, even though she didn't even understand what the whole mess was, and Cameron felt extremely guilty about it.
That was why Cameron was still awake, despite it being the middle of the night. Artemis had come by earlier that night in her apologetic phase, and Cameron hadn't been able to stop thinking about it since.
As Cameron lay in his bed, trying to think about anything other than Artemis, he heard the sound of his door opening. Without even looking, Cameron knew exactly who it was. There was only one person who came into his room anymore.
"Bit late for a visit, don't you think, dad?" Cameron smirked and sat up. He effortlessly hid his ice sculpture behind his back. It wouldn't do for his dad to see him moping around. Cameron's smirk turned into a frown when he saw the serious expression on his dad's face. "What's wrong.
"The Justice League," Joar growled. "They're causing trouble in Gotham. The Light is sending me and Sportsmaster out to help take care of the heroes."
"Y-you're leaving?" Cameron asked. He cursed his slight stutter, though his dad didn't seem to notice it.
"Yeah, it shouldn't be for too long though. A few days, maybe." Joar said. "You think you can handle being in charge for that long."
"Wait...what?" Cameron blinked. "You're not serious."
"Would I joke about something like this?" Joar glared at his son. "You're fifteen now, Junior. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to handle the city by yourself for a few days."
"Me, in charge." Cameron could barely believe it. Really though, he should have seen something like this coming. Obviously his dad was using this opportunity to test Cameron, to see if he had what it took to rule a city, even if it was just for a short period of time. "You know, I doubt The Light is going to be happy that you're leaving some kid in charge of one of their precious cities."
"The Light can deal with it." Joar scowled. "Honestly, they have no right to be upset with who I choose to run the city temporarily. Especially not when they're making me leave on such short notice."
"So, you're leaving tonight?" Cameron asked, though he was pretty sure of the answer.
"As soon as possible." Joar confirmed. "I just needed to tell you we were going first."
"Yeah, I'd probably freak out if I woke up in the morning and you guys were just gone." Cameron said honestly.
"You'd have to be asleep first before you can wake up." Joar said. "Why are you still up anyway?"
Cameron stiffened at the question, but tried to answer the question casually. "I just couldn't sleep, no big deal." Cameron shrugged as if it were nothing, but Joar knew it wasn't nothing. Cameron may have gotten better over the years at hiding his emotions, but Joar knew his son well enough to see through his facade.
"Come on, Junior, we both know that's not the truth." Joar snapped, causing Cameron to flinch slightly. "Now, what's going on with you?" Although, by the way that Cameron was avoiding his gaze, Joar knew exactly what was going on. "It's Artemis again, isn't it?"
Cameron groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Can we please not do this right now?"
Joar huffed in annoyance. "Alright, what did she do this time?"
Cameron moved his hands away and actually glared at his father. "Artemis hasn't done anything, and she never has!" Cameron defended fiercely. He then lowered his gaze to the floor and scowled. "She's just being herself, nothing I can do to stop that."
Joar scoffed. "Nothing you can do to stop your feelings for her either, right?" Cameron frowned and stayed silent, which was more than enough to serve as confirmation for Joar.
"You really do care about Artemis, don't you?" Joar crossed his arms sternly. Cameron didn't answer right away, but Joar could be a patient man when he wanted to be, so he waited. Finally Cameron sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"I tried not to." Cameron said quietly. "I swear, dad, I tried so hard to not feel this way about her. I thought that these feelings would just go away or something, but they didn't. If anything, they just got worse."
Joar chuckled. "Yeah, because that's what happens when you care about someone. You don't just stop caring for them just because it's inconvenient for you. If you're lucky, those feelings may fade away in time, but they could also just grow stronger, which I suspect is what happened with you."
Cameron stared at his dad cautiously. "But, you're always telling me that villains can't have emotions."
Joar shook his head. "No, I'm always telling you that we can't show our emotions, there's a big difference. It doesn't matter how you feel or who you care about, as long as you conceal it. You can feel whatever you like, but you can't let it show."
Cameron frowned. "That sounds like the worst advice ever."
"Tough luck." Joar shrugged. "I'm serious though. You can't let anybody know about your feelings towards Artemis. The other villains can't know about this, and Artemis definitely can't know, understand?"
"Yeah, I get it." Cameron said. Showing emotion was a sign of weakness, and villains couldn't be weak. "You sound like you have experience with this whole 'hiding your emotions' thing." Cameron hesitated before continuing. "What, do you have someone that you care about?" Cameron expected to, at the very least, get yelled at for asking such a question. His father didn't even scold him though, he just looked amused.
"Yeah, you could say that." Joar smirked slightly and shook his head. It amazed him how dense his son could be sometimes. "Well, I'd better go find Lawrence. We gotta get to Gotham before those heroes cause too much trouble. Joar turned and began to walk out the door.
"Dad, be careful." Joar froze at the obvious concern in his son's voice. "I mean, these heroes have been in hiding for more than ten years and suddenly strike up an attack? I just...I have a bad feeling about this."
"We defeated these heroes once, no reason we won't do it again." Joar said with fake confidence. In all honestly, he too had a bad feeling about the heroes' reappearance. As much as he hated to admit it, The Justice League was smart, and they worked as a team, which was more than most villains could say. The Justice League wouldn't have started a fight if they didn't have a plan, and that's what Joar was worried about.
Joar turned his head to look back at Cameron. "Things will be fine, Cam. I promise." He left before Cameron had the chance to say anything else.
He just hoped that things really did turn out fine.
Artemis took in a shuddering breath as she walked slowly down the all too familiar hallway. Earlier that day, she and Cameron had gotten news from Gotham. At first, Artemis had been glad. Their fathers had left for Gotham a week before and still hadn't returned. Artemis had been beginning to get nervous, and she knew that Cameron was just getting more and more anxious. They were both worried that something had happened. The news that they got from Gotham only confirmed that something had happened. Something bad.
...Their fathers weren't coming back. Ever.
The battle with The Justice League had apparently been much worse than anybody had anticipated. Half of Gotham city had been destroyed, and many people had died. Including, it seemed, the entire Justice League, which was the majority of the world's heroes. All of the villains that had been involved in the battle had died as well, including Icicle and Sportsmaster. Cameron's father, and her own.
They were dead.
Artemis wasn't sure how she felt about her father being dead. On one hand, he was a jerk. Her dad always expected too much from her and rarely showed any kindness. When she had been younger, Artemis had had the delusion that they could still be a happy family. As she got older though, Artemis had come to recognize that her father never treated her like a daughter, but like somebody to train to be the perfect assassin.
So, yeah, Artemis didn't exactly miss him at the moment, but she wasn't happy that he had died. Yeah, she didn't like her dad very much, but she did still love him. He was her father, after all, no matter how much he didn't act like it.
Artemis' feelings were conflicted, but she really didn't care. She would sort out her own emotions later. For the moment, she was more concerned on how Cameron was taking this whole ordeal.
Cameron had always had a, if not good, than decent, relationship with his father. Artemis couldn't imagine how he was handling the news of his father's death. Probably not well, all things considered.
Artemis stopped walking when the reached Cameron's room. The door was closed, as it always was. Artemis could see signs of frost and ice on the sides of the door, which indicated that Cameron had frozen the door shut from his side.
Alright, fine, Cameron obviously didn't want anybody in his room. So what else was new? She didn't have to see him, she just had to talk to him. Artemis took a deep breath and knocked three times on the doors cold surface.
"Cameron? Come on, I know you're in there." Artemis said because, honestly, where else would he be? "Look, I know that you're upset about what happened" Yeah, that was an understatement. Artemis groaned. She wasn't good at this whole comforting thing.
"But, you know that I'm here for you, right?" Artemis leaned against the door. "I mean, it's just me and you now, Cam. We're all each other has anymore-" Artemis' voice trailed off as she began to sob lightly, her own emotions getting the best of her. Artemis slid down to the ground and sat against the door. Artemis hugged her knees to her chest and cried into them.
On the other side of the door, Cameron sat in a very similar position. Cameron hugged his arms around himself and drew his legs close. He couldn't stop his body from shaking, neither could he stop the tears that had started falling from his eyes.
Neither of them had ever felt so alone in their life.
A/N: That last part was extremely easy to write...as well as kinda depressing.
When I got finished writing the previous chapter, I was actually looking forward to killing off Joar. I know, I'm awful. He was just really, really hard to write in that chapter. Not so much in this one though. Now I'm kinda sad that I had to kill off Joar and Lawrence, but I had to, the plot says so.
*Sigh* You know what I just realized? I often get inspiration for writing by listening to music, and the soundtrack that will be my inspiration throughout this whole story is from a movie I'm not exactly the biggest fan of. Which means I'll have to be listening to that music a lot while I'm writing the coming chapters. Not that the music, or even the movie it's from, is bad or anything, I actually quite enjoy them...they're just so annoying. Oh well.
