Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. But that would be a perfect birthday present.
Artemis was crouched close to the ground, desperately trying to quiet her heavy breathing. After a few minutes she had cooled down and was listening attentively for the sound of footsteps. Ten minutes passed and she still had heard nothing. She slowly turned around, suspicious.
She was in a large warehouse, having been separated from the team while chasing a villain. Unfortunately this guy was a lot cleverer than she had anticipated, immediately taking to the shadows. She smiled to herself at the irony of it.
Something fell to her right and she whirled to that direction, arrow drawn back. However she saw nothing there. Artemis felt a chill run down her spine and decided she was tired of playing cat and mouse.
She carefully walked into the dead center of the warehouse where a lone light bulb illuminated the area. Her pupils dilated, adjusting from the sudden change in light.
"Come out. Now," she ordered, falling into a fighting stance. She was met by silence and for a moment wondered if the guy had already left.
Suddenly she was on the ground, her butt stinging from the hard fall onto the concrete, her bow and arrows gone. She grimaced as she got up and got back into her stance, but her resolve was weakened.
Artemis slowly walked in circles, trying to look around and see where her attacker was. Then a quick flash and she was on the ground again, her head knocking painfully against the floor.
Someone cackled in the background and she immediately recognized the voice.
"Dad?" she asked fiercely, propping herself up with her elbows. And once again she was pushed down, this time much more harshly than before. Her head made a loud crack and for a moment she saw stars.
"You know what you have to do," her father said, his voice dripping with venom. He seemed to be everywhere, or maybe that was because of the blow she received on the skull.
Artemis considered getting up, not wanting to comply with her father's orders. But the moment she moved her head upward her vision became dizzy and bile filled her mouth. She lay down on the floor, taking a deep breath and holding it.
Her eyes were squeezed shut as she stayed still, listening. After several minutes she could hold her breath no longer and was about to open her mouth when she felt a presence next to her. Biting her tongue, she begged her body to hold out just a bit longer as the person knelt down next to her.
A large, warm hand grabbed at her head, pulling her up. Artemis instantly opened her eyes and pounced on the attacker, slamming her forehead against his and pushing her knees onto his chest, crushing his lungs.
Her dark blue eyes met black and she almost let go of him in shock. Kid Flash was pinned beneath her, struggling to get out of her grasp. Except it wasn't him; his bright red hair and ridiculously loud costume was the same, but the face that glared at her was almost feral in nature. He even snapped at her, small fangs peeking out of his mouth. She pushed onto to him harder as he resisted and loosened when he began to cough.
The voice spoke again, this time louder. "Kill him," her father said. "Kill him now."
At the sound of the voice Kid Flash bucked against her, pushing wildly. Artemis thought with a laugh that if he hadn't looked this disturbing, the situation would have almost been erotic.
She quickly reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small knife, pressing it against his neck. A thin line of blood appeared, dripping down his neck. The sight of it made her draw back, hand shaking.
"Kill him!" her father shouted. "Kill him like the others; do it now!"
She looked around, trying to locate the voice, before looking back at him. Wally's eyes were bright green again and a horrified look was on his face.
"Artemis," he said, shocked. "What are you doing?"
She looked back at her hand, the knife glinting red. She dropped it and leapt off of him, her body trembling.
A door flew by her and she turned around to see the team walk in, Superboy throwing things out of the way.
"What's going on?" Aqualad asked, walking towards them.
Megan gasped, her hand covering her mouth. Superboy wrapped a protective arm around her while scowling at Artemis. Robin just stared at her, frowning.
Artemis looked back and forth between the team and Wally, shaking her head furiously. "It isn't what it looks like, I swear!" she exclaimed in a panic, her voice rising.
She slowly backed up, her back hitting the boxes behind her roughly. She shot out of bed, breathing unevenly.
"Artemis?" her mother called from the room next to hers, bed creaking. "Are you alright?"
She ran a hand through her hair; the bright yellow reminded her of him. She rubbed the goose bumps on her arms away and glanced at the clock; the team was meeting in an hour for their next mission.
"I'm fine," Artemis replied with a pause, getting up from her small bed. She threw on her costume and rushed out of the apartment, giving her mom a quick goodbye.
An hour later she arrived at Mount Justice and was halfheartedly listening to Megan recount the show she had seen. The whole team was there, minus Kid Flash who was late yet again. She looked around the room anxiously, ignoring the looks Aqualad and Robin were giving her.
A yellow flash burst into the room, stopping in the middle of the group. "Sorry I'm late!" Wally said, grinning at Megan. "I was getting my fortune told." He wagged his eyebrows.
The team exchanged looks, a collective mental sigh. Artemis walked up to him, coming face to face. She looked at his face intensely, peering into his eyes.
"Uh," he stated, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Can I help you?"
The tension that had filled her body finally relaxed; nothing had changed. Artemis smiled. "Just checking. You're still an idiot."
A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews! It seems the more I get, the more inspired I am to write (cough)
It's definitely less romance, trying my hand at action now. Not very interesting, I know, but please review x) Oh and if its OOC PLEASE comment on that. It's my ultimate fear.