The morning came much too early for Artemis' taste. No sunlight greeted her, no smell of coffee wafting from the kitchen. She glanced at her clock with bleary eyes.
5 a.m.
Yep, it was time to get up.
Despite that it felt like she had slept for ten minutes, she was a little excited to see what kind of class she was going to be attending. Nightwing knew what was good for her, so she'd probably be with other beginners. She threw on shorts and a t shirt and quick brushed her hair into a ponytail. She soundlessly slipped out of her bedroom and headed for the kitchen for a light snack. Her excitement, however, turned to terror in a flash as she saw Jade exiting the kitchen and coming straight towards her.
Both girls froze and gave each other an incredulous look.
"What are you doing?" they asked each other simultaneously.
There was an awkward pause, then Jade leaped for an explanation. "I had to go to the bathroom. What about you?" Her voice was tinged suspicion.
"I woke up hungry, and came to get a snack." Artemis gained all the composure she could muster.
"Do you always dress before you eat?"
"No," she replied pointedly. "I slept in this."
"Oh," Jade replied sarcastically. "That explains the wrinkles."
Artemis ignored the fact that her clothes were wrinkle- free and headed to the kitchen for a granola bar. Then, peeking around the corner to make sure Jade was back in her room, she crept out of the apartment and ran pell- mell to the gym.
oOo
The gym was empty, only a few of the lights flickering on the ceiling, casting strange shadows every direction. Artemis checked the clock to see that she was ten minutes early. Still, she'd thought someone would have been there by now.
The men's locker room door suddenly swung open, and Nightwing appeared. His mask was back on, and he had a towel draped over his shoulder.
Artemis was shocked. She hadn't expected Nightwing to be the one teaching her and whoever else it was that would be going them.
"Morning," he smiled. "You ready to get started?"
"Uh, yeah, but what about the others?" She looked around.
"'Others'?" Nightwing repeated.
It suddenly occurred to her that he hadn't specified whether she'd be joining a class or training by herself. Her heart rate increased slightly, but she tried not to show it.
The men's locker room door opened again, this time revealing Red Arrow. "Hey, have you seen-" he stopped short when he spotted Artemis. Nightwing raised an eyebrow."No, I haven't. You can probably guess why."
Red nodded. Nightwing was giving him a cocky grin, and Artemis couldn't help but feel they were talking in code or something. "I'm still here," she hinted.
"See ya, Nightwing," Red Arrow suddenly turned and left. Artemis crossed her arms. Okay?
When he was gone, she turned back to Nightwing. "Broody much?"
"He's like that," her companion shrugged. "I have a feeling we interrupted his appointment with someone." She saw the smirk return to his face but still didn't understand. He seemed to suddenly remember her, and asked, "You ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Artemis replied with chagrin, hoping she wouldn't embarrass herself too much.
oOo
The Crock apartment was silent when Artemis returned. She made sure to first deposit 'the evidence' into her room and make it look like she had just gotten up. Then she hurried to the kitchen. She was starving.
Taking out pretty much whatever food was in sight, she prepared some eggs while eating cottage cheese and a banana, placing the other food she would attack later onto the table.
She heard a bedroom door open. A moment later Jade appeared, looking more pissed than usual. She gave Artemis a look of utter disdain and grabbed a box of cereal. She shoved a large spoonful of frosted flakes in her mouth and gave her sister an irritated look. "Did Dad starve you last night?"
Artemis wondered what she had done to deserve the front of Jade's pms. "I'm just hungry."
"You were hungry at 5 this morning too," she continued with her mouth full.
"I'm a growing girl," the blonde gave her sister a look of finality, and held her head up till she reached her room for added effect. A minute later, however, she realized she had left eggs on the burner and had to go back out. Jade was already gone.
oOo
Later that evening, Artemis was busy running papers back and forth for her dad when she spotted Nightwing standing between the door way of an empty office. He gestured for her to come in, and, after peeking over her shoulder, Artemis obeyed.
She was met by the sight of two other girls, the same ones she had seen training the other night and one of which she had run into at the library. The other girl had dark skin and a short hair cut. She stood with her arms crossed as she glanced hesitantly at Artemis. The dark haired one stood with a hand on her hip. Artemis still didn't know her name, because she hadn't been so kind as to introduce herself the previous day.
"So, Artemis," Nightwing broke the silence and the two girls' inspection of each other. "I just got called away for a little while, so I'm not going to be able to train you right away. I asked them," he nodded in the others' direction, "if they'd up to it, and as long as you are, you can keep training while I'm gone."
"Um," Artemis hesitated, then shrugged. "Okay."
She was disappointed that Nightwing would be gone, and felt unwilling to be trained by the pair of teens. But for him, she would do it.
"Zatanna," the girl from the library scenario placed a hand to her chest. "Nice to meet you."
She seemed to be more pleasant than the day before, but Artemis was still suspicious. "Nice to meet you too," she replied anyway.
"And I'm Raquel," the other replied, holding out her hand and giving her a sincere smile. "Artemis," she replied, and shook her hand in gratitude. She needed someone to loosen up the atmosphere.
"So, if that's all settled, I'll be on my way," Nightwing smiled and clasped his hands together. He walked out of the room in one direction, and the two girls went the other. Artemis ran to catch up with Nightwing.
"Yes?" he asked as his brusque walk slowed to a mild pacing.
"Do you trust them?" Artemis asked worriedly. "I mean completely?"
"Yes, I do. I made sure that they're completely safe," he tilted his head to the side and looked down on her. "Trust me."
Her insides melted a little and she smiled back. That she could do. But her brow furrowed again a moment later.
"How long will you be gone for?"
His mild pacing now became even slower, then ceased altogether. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know. A week or so, maybe two."
Her face fell. Two weeks? It sounded like an eternity.
Nightwing seemed somewhat surprised at her reaction. She realized she still needed to work on hiding her emotions, but right now she didn't care. She was already trying hard not to say the hundreds of things she wanted to. Most of all, there was one word desperately trying to escape her lips. Stay.
He looked as if he was debating whether to say something, but instead just looked at her through his mask. "I'll miss-" he paused for a moment, "-training you."
"Who knows?" Artemis tried to resume a cheerful countenance. "Maybe by the time you get back, I'll be better than you."
"We can have a one-on-one then," he smiled. "I might even take it easy if you bat your eyelashes a few times."
He turned and continued walking, a shy smirk on his face. Artemis watched him go, a pink tint gathering on her cheeks.
She was surprised and irritated, however, when she turned the corner and found her persistent admirer there, leaning against a wall. He gave her a smile that was probably supposed to turn her on, but failed.
"So, I don't think we've officially met," he held out his hand. "I'm Cameron."
"I'm sorry," Artemis replied, not really meaning it. "But I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."
Cameron stopped her effort to get past. "Not so fast, babe. I saw you talking to Domino Mask back there; why can't you leave a little time for me?"
"Maybe because he never calls me 'babe'." She hoped this would satisfy him for now, and brusquely continued walking down the hall towards her father's office. He tried to keep up with her.
"Okay, let's not go with babe, then. If you tell me your name, then I can just call you by that."
"I don't think you should be calling me at all," she muttered in reply. She was getting sick of this guy.
"Brenda?" he tried. When receiving silence from her, he tried again. "Lucy? Catherine? Jane?"
Artemis finally reached her dad's office, glad to leave him behind.
"Please don't talk to me again," she cut short his guessing game and slammed the door behind her.
oOo
The next morning, Artemis wasn't quite so excited to get up for workout. But she went nevertheless, with no encounters with Jade this time. She arrived at the gym to find her two new trainers sparing for warm up. She waited for them to finish, then greeted, "Good morning."
"Hey," Zatanna replied, wiping a little sweat from her brow. "You ready?"
"Um, sure, I guess," Artemis replied, stretching her legs.
"How much do you know?" Raquel asked.
"Not much," she admitted, and explained what Nightwing had taught her the previous day.
"Hm, that isn't much," Zatanna said thoughtfully. Then a supercilious smile came across her face. "Today we're going to do something different."
Artemis followed her, surprised when they left the gym entirely. Zatanna led the way through the dark hallways until they reached a door with a glass window. It was pitch black inside. Raquel seemed to catch on and gave Artemis a knowing smile. She opened the door and the three were met with the smell of chlorine and humidity. They were at the pool.
"What are we doing here?" Artemis hissed.
"Just think of it as a little... initiation," Zatanna replied, and Artemis could tell she was smiling, despite that her eyes were only just beginning to adjust to the dark.
"If you expect me to go in there naked-"
"Of course we do," she replied matter-of-factly. "We won't train you if you don't"
oOo
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Random Justice League fact: Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan once had a fist fight over who should be Earth's Green Lantern. My boy Hal won ^^