Return Chapter 8
July 8th
"I sent you the fixed copy, you said you were capable of fixing it" Dick yelled into the phone.
Artemis sat in his desk chair as she worked on her own paper work, but when Dick started yelling she looked up to see him pulling at his hair and a very angry look on his face.
"Since you are incompetent and can't fix the problems you created I will come to London and fix them for you. I'll be there by this time tomorrow" Dick said hanging up the phone. Growling in frustration he slammed it on the desk. Setting his hand on the desk he hung his head and tried focusing on breathing to try and clam his anger.
Artemis stood up going around the desk and set her hands on Dick's shoulder "Calm down, everything's going to be fine" she said rubbing his tense shoulders.
Dick sighed "The UK branch has completely screwed up, even after I sent them the exact way to fix things, they still screwed it all up. Now I have to go there and fix it".
"I have ears babe I heard you yelling it to the guy on the phone. But why are you so mad about it?" Artemis asked again.
"I have to bring Bruce in on the problem; they screwed up so bad that now Bruce has to be involved, which means a seven hour flight with him" Dick said rubbing his eyes with his hands. Dick stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist "Could you go with me?"
"I have my own work that I need to do here; I have a big meeting tomorrow that I can't miss. I would love to go with you but I can't" Artemis said running her hands through his hair.
Dick sighed "Worth a shot right, I'm gonna need a drink in order to survive that flight".
"You don't need a drink, just breathe and remember that if your good on the trip you'll have a prize waiting for you here at home" Ananbeth said with a grin.
Dick smiled "Oh and do I get a preview of this prize?" he asked lifting her up so that she sat on the edge of his desk.
Artemis grinned her hands moving to the bottom of Dick's shirt that she was wearing and lifting it over her head revealing her bare chest "What do you think boy wonder?"
Dick lay on his office floor with a huge grin on his face as he played with Artemis' hair "That was incredible" he said.
Artemis smiled as she run her finger up and down his toned chest "Yeah it was".
"I can diffidently say I've never done that before" Dick said moving so that he could see her eyes.
Artemis laughed "Neither have I but I can promise we'll diffidently be doing it again".
Dick smiled "I really wish I didn't have to leave".
"Me to, do you know how long you're gonna be gone?" Artemis asked.
"Hopefully just a day or two, but it could be longer. I should probably tell you that the magazines are going to have a hay day that I'm in the public again, so there's going to be a lot of bogus articles. And a lot of who I'm dating and who I'm not, all that crap" Dick said.
"Anything I need to be worried about?" Artemis asked.
Dick shook his head "Absolutely not, there's going to be pictures of me with girls, probably old ones, but the chairman of the UK branch is a woman so there'll be dinner's and stuff like that but you have nothing to worry about she's into Bruce anyway. I know I don't have a very good reputation with woman and you have every right to be nervous but I promise you I'd never do anything to hurt you 'Mis. I care about you way too much to do that" Dick said looking her in the eye.
"What do you mean?" Artemis asked.
Dick sighed rolling over so he was on his back and looking up at the ceiling "I've always like you from the minute you joined the team. You were so brave and confident and incredibly hot, but I knew I didn't stand a chance with you, and when I realized Wally had feelings for you I stepped back completely. I though by moving on with Zatanna I would get over you but I didn't and she knew that. She knew I was in love with someone else, that's why we broke up. When Wally died I was devastated and disappeared completely, I was scared that if I got close to you again you wouldn't feel the same".
Artemis smiled turning his face so he would look at her "Trust me I feel the same way, I wouldn't have done this" she said motioning to them still lying naked on his office floor "If I didn't feel the same way".
Dick laughed kissing her "Good because I could diffidently never let you go after this".
"I don't think I could either boy wonder. Come on let's go get you packed so you can meet Bruce at the airport" Artemis said grabbing her clothes and putting them back on.
Dick frowned "Can't you please go with me?"
Artemis smiled wrapping her arms around his waist "You know I can't go with you babe, I've got my own work to do, but I am going to take you to the airport and you're going to leave me your car" she said grinning.
Dick laughed "Am I really now?"
"Yes because you don't want your girlfriend to have to drive all the way back to Star City in her crappy car in the middle of the night".
"You're going back to Star City, why?" Dick asked.
"That's where all of my work clothes are, besides there's no way I'm going to drive from Bludhaven to Star City in the morning the traffic is going to be horrible. It makes more sense for me to go home after I drop you off at the airport" Artemis said fixing his hair.
"Alright, I'm going to take a shower before I start packing, care to join me Miss Crock?" Dick asked.
"I'd love to" she said smiling at him.
Four hours later Dick and Artemis were on their way to the airport where Bruce and his private plan waited for them.
"What do you think Bruce is going to say about us?" Artemis said motioning towards their intertwined hands.
Dick shrugged "I don't know but he won't say anything to you, he'll say it to me. When I get back I'm taking you on a proper first date, we've kind of done things backwards" he said smiling.
Artemis laughed "We have but I like how we did things".
"Oh I diffidently do to. How do you think our friends are going to take it?" Dick asked looking at her quickly before looking back at the road.
"I don't know, I think M'gann will be happy, but I don't know about Zatanna, I think she still has a thing for you" Artemis said.
"No she's dating someone, I checked up on her a couple months ago and she was with someone, I'm pretty sure they are still together, he's a cop in New York" Dick said.
"You check up on your old girlfriends?" Artemis asked.
"Only the one's I truly care about, Zee was the only girl I had an actual relationship with, and I truly felt bad for hurting her like I did, she didn't deserve that, she deserved better than me" Dick said.
"And what if we break up, are you going to check up on me?" Artemis asked.
"No because I never plan on letting you go" Dick said smiling at her.
Artemis smiled "Good answer boy wonder" she said as they pulled into the airport.
Dick parked the car a little way from the plane where Bruce stood with Selina Kyle.
"Bruce is dating Selina Kyle?" Artemis asked shocked.
Dick nodded his head "Don't you read the tabloids, they've been dating almost a year".
Artemis opened the car door following Dick to the trunk to get his bag "I don't read gossip magazine's I barely read the newspaper".
Dick smiled "Good because once were seen together in public your face is going to be all over the tabloids".
"Yeah I figured that, should we tell our friends before the tabloids take a picture of us?" Artemis asked as they walked towards the plane.
"No I'm sure it'll be fine" Dick said intertwining their hands.
Silena smiled at them untangling herself from Bruce and walked towards them "It's so good to see you Dick" she said wrapping him in a hug.
Dick smiled hugging her back "It's good to see you to Selina". When he pulled away he looked at Artemis "Silena this is my girlfriend Artemis Crock".
Silena smiled "It's nice to meet you Artemis, I look forward to getting to know you better".
Artemis smiled "Same here Miss Kyle".
"Please call me Silena, come on Dick, you and Bruce need to be leaving soon" Silena said walking towards an expressionless Bruce.
"How could I forget?" Dick mumbled as he and Artemis followed after her.
Artemis elbowed him "Be nice".
"And if I'm not?" Dick asked.
"Then you get no repeat from this afternoon when you get back" Artemis said looking at him seriously.
"You play a hard game Miss Crock" Dick said smiling at her "I promise I'll be nice". He said stopping in front of Silena and Bruce "Hello Bruce".
"Hello Dick, it's good to see you again Artemis" Bruce said tensely.
"Same here Mr. Wayne" Artemis said smiling at him.
"Well let's say our good byes, so these two can get going" Silena said "Call me when you land I love you" Silena said hugging Bruce.
Bruce actually smiled hugging her back and kissing the top of her head "I love you to, try not to get into too much trouble while I'm going".
Silena smiled at him "I can't promise anything".
Dick turned to Artemis dropping his bag at his side "Don't call me when you land I don't like my sleep being interrupted" Artemis said smiling at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Dick laughed gripping her waist "I won't, I'm sorry I have to leave but I'll try and make the trip quick".
"It's okay, I understand, I'll be here waiting when you get back" Artemis said.
Dick smiled leaning his forehead against hers "I'm gonna miss you" he whispered.
"I'm gonna miss you to" Artemis said pressing her lips to his.
"We need to get going" Bruce said sternly from behind them.
Dick pulled away a deadly glare on his face "I'll call you later" he said going to move away but Artemis grabbed his hand.
"Hey relax and give me a proper kiss" Artemis said glaring right back at him.
Dick's glare immediately left his face as he cupped her cheeks in his hands kissing her passionately on the mouth. Artemis smiled when they pulled away "Now that's a good bye kiss boy wonder".
Dick laughed "I'll see you in a couple of days 'Mis" he said turning to follow Bruce onto the plane.
Artemis smiled turning back to Dick's car, so she could go home and get some much needed sleep before work the next morning.
July 9th 9:00 pm Star City
Artemis Crock tiredly climbed her apartment building stairs, her meeting had taken all day much longer than she expected but it went really good, which was a huge relief for her. Finally reaching her apartment door she sighed with relief as she stepped into her apartment, but immiedatley noticed something wasn't right. She wasn't alone in her apartment.
Closing the apartment door and setting her things down like she normally did, she grabbed the knife hidden underneath the table quickly turning around only to see Selina Kyle standing behind her front door.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Artemis asked breathing a sigh of relief.
Selina stepped out of the shadows "I need your help with something, Dick and Bruce both said you're good at tracking people and that you were trained by the league of shadows, I could use your skills".
Artemis frowned "When did you talk to Dick about me?"
"Dick doesn't sleep very well at night, I called him asking for his help to find someone, but he can't because of the stuff going on in the UK" Silena said moving towards Artemis' couch and sitting down motioning for Artemis to follow.
Artemis sat down on the couch still frowning "What do you mean Dick doesn't sleep well at night, we've been sharing the same bed, I would have noticed" Artemis asked slightly upset that this women seemed to know more about Dick than she did.
Silena smiled sadly "It took a lot of coaxing but Dick finally admitted that he still has nightmares about the battle against the light and sending you in undercover and loosing Wally. I probably shouldn't tell you this but he told me his most frequent nightmare is watching you die in front of him because your cover was blown too early".
Artemis leaned back into her couch "He never said anything".
Silena patted her leg "It's going to take him some time to open up completely. But right now I really need your help, and we don't have much time, how close are you to your sister Jade?"
"We talk once a week, why?" Artemis asked.
"We made need her help" Silena said.
"Before we drag my sister into this what exactly am I supposed to help you find?" Artemis asked.
Silena sighed "Talia ah Guhl's son ...Damian Wayne".