Chapter Nine
Artemis massaged her temples in frustration. This was maddening. She had been over this file hundreds of times with a fine tooth comb, yet it didn't add up. She wasn't satisfied with the results. Her eyes felt dry and bloodshot. Staring at the little screen for hours had nearly driven her insane. It didn't help that the few hours of sleep she had, as peaceful as they were, were not enough to make up for all the sleep she had lost on previous nights.
Nightwing suddenly entered his little apartment carrying two smoothies. He handed one to her and looked at the screen. "Any luck?"
"I think if I had any I'd be too oblivious to notice. Besides, I've been over this again and again. If there's anything here, I need to come back to it later, when I'm more refreshed." She closed the laptop and took a sip of the smoothie.
"Go take a bath and get some sleep. I'll take over for a bit."
Artemis groaned. "That sounds nice, but unfortunately I have some where to be in exactly negative six minutes."
"Don't tell me your dad has you running errands for him again."
She shrugged. "Okay, I won't."
"Artemis, you need to rest! You've been more than stressed out lately. You know he's just trying to keep you busy by making you run around like this."
"It's working."
"It's killing you," he returned flatly. "If you don't tell him to get a different errand boy, I will."
"How can I tell him that? I've barely talked to him since I found out about his 'under-handed' life." She made a little sobbing noise and sank down on the couch. "I'm so tired."
Nightwing took her hand in one of his, and with the other held the smoothie to her lips. She stared at him through her exhausted eyes and slowly sipped the cold drink. When she had taken a healthy gulp of the blend, he said more quietly, "Go back to your apartment and go to sleep. Don't look at any more computers today, and don't think about solving this puzzle until I tell you to."
She nodded silently. Of course she would do it. She wanted to obey her dad, but Nightwing had highest authority in her heart. She looked at him before she closed the door behind her. He was staring at the laptop penetratingly, then started to type furiously.
Of course it only takes him ten seconds to make a break through.
As she walked along the halls back towards her own apartment, she hoped that her legs would be able to hold her long enough to get there, and that the excuse she was going to make to her dad for missing would satisfy him.
"Artemis Crock!"
Oh, shit.
The voice belonged to Zatanna, and it was only then that Artemis remembered she had missed more than one appointment today.
"Why didn't you show up to practice this morning?" she interrogated. "If you think I'm gonna wake up at five every morning while you sleep the day away-" she suddenly noticed the irrational look of fear on Artemis' face.
"What's the matter with you?" she peered at her. "You're falling apart."
"It's a long story." Artemis replied, leaning against the wall for support- but trying to make it look casual. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I promise I won't be late- oh, wait, Nightwing is back. I guess you won't have to train me anymore." She wanted to leave as quickly as possible, for fear that she wouldn't be able to hold herself up much longer.
"Oh, he's back? Funny, I haven't seen him." She then turned on Artemis again. "Are you sure you're alright? You look exhausted."
Whether Zatanna was prying for answers or not, Artemis wasn't going to give them to her. "Yeah, I'm actually going to take a nice long nap right now."
With that, she continued down the hall as stably as she could. Zatanna didn't pursue, so she figured the worst was over. She was home free.
She began to doubt this though when she turned the corner and almost ran into Cameron. Her mind slowly registered that yes, she had pummeled this guy to the ground the day before; but a quick assessment told her, no, she couldn't do that again if she wanted. She was already running on empty. He snarled at her and hissed, "You!" Then smacked her with the back of his hand so that her head hit the wall and she almost fell to the ground.
He roughly yanked her up by the arm and spit out, "You humiliated me! And if you ever do again," he whispered this in her ear for emphasis, "I'll tell your daddy what a naughty girl you've been."
With that he shoved her into the wall again and then disappeared beyond the corner.
It took her a moment to regain her composure, her head spinning from the blow it had received when she hit the wall. That was certainly not what she had expected. She knew Cameron was probably angry, but this? She slowly picked herself up and staggered back down the hall way. It wasn't till she was at the door that the side of her face started to sting, and she realized her lip was bleeding.
She quickly got a cold compress to apply to her lip and some tylenol to numb the pain in her head. She made sure that the apartment was empty before doing this, so that her dad and sister wouldn't find out about what happened.
She couldn't be too sure of what Cameron knew. He obviously knew she had been trained, knowledge gained from her little demonstration the day before. If he had somehow found out who was training her, he might even get Zatanna and Raquel in trouble. He could have stumbled across any information regarding her meetings with Nightwing, and maybe even the secrets she had learned in accordance with her father. What ever he knew, she had to make sure he never told her dad.
With these added burdens becoming her last thoughts, she tumbled into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
oOo
It was completely dark when Artemis awoke. Her tired limbs could barely move, so she laid still for a moment, rubbing her eyes groggily and pulling the covers up to her chin.
Suddenly, she stilled. She could hear someone else's faint breathing in the room. She was laying on her side and facing the wall, so her back was turned to the unseen intruder. At first she panicked, then she took a deep breath and prepared to launch.
In less than half a second she was off the bed and leaping onto the figure, who was standing by the door. She twisted their arm behind their back and forced them to the floor. The intruder was screaming gibberish, but Artemis finally made out,
"Oh my fucking- what the- Artemis get off me! My arms are being pulled out of- holy shit! Oh, ow!"
Artemis quickly released her and flicked on the light switch. Zatanna lay on the floor, rubbing her sore shoulders.
"Next time, give me a warning before we start the training session, m'k?"
Artemis could still feel her heart beating fast against her chest. She released a deep breath. "Ug, sorry. I guess I've just been paranoid lately."
"What were you dreaming about, the devil?"
"Pretty close," she muttered in reply.
"I just came in here to talk about tomorrow. I swear I had just walked in when you attacked me. I didn't know you were still asleep, cause, geez, it is already 7."
"Are you fucking me?!" Artemis exclaimed and spun around to look at the clock. "Oh, shit. You're here. In my house. If my dad finds out you're here he'll chop off my head with a axe and serve it at his next dinner party on a big shiny plate-" she grabbed Zatanna by the wrist and dragged her out of the room and through the door of the little apartment.
When they were a mile down the hall, Zatanna yanked her wrist from Artemis and stared at her. The blonde just gave her a blank look.
"Damn, you are paranoid. Wait till Raquel hears about this."
"Ug, I'm sorry," Artemis pleaded. "Give me a break; I just woke up five minutes ago."
"What you need is to settle down with a nice cup of cocoa, and have a long talk. We can go sit in the hot tub if you want." When she saw the look of incredulity on Artemis' face, she quickly added, "And we'll wear bathing suits this time."
oOo
Artemis went home feeling more refreshed. It was already ten o' clock, and although she wasn't tired because of her long nap, she knew she would sleep peacefully.
Zatanna, who had noticed her cut lip, had insisted on her going home and putting neosporin on it. Artemis had ignored the extreme hints she had given to get her to say what had happened. It stung as she applied the neosporin, and it made the bruise on the back of her head feel as if it weighed an extra 20 pounds.
She heard the front door open suddenly and she quickly hid the bottle of medication behind her back. It was her father entering, looking tired and withdrawn. As he looked at Artemis, an odd feeling came over her.
They gazed at each other in searching manners. Neither said a word, but Artemis hated the feeling of mistrust within her almost as much as she hated the mistrust that was in his eyes as he looked at her.
But just before his penetrating gaze made her guiltily break down and confess all that she had done, he turned with a grunt and went into his office, with out even a slam of the door.
She had been sure from the look he had given her that he knew what she had been up to, but now, as she stood with limbs shaking but still intact, she wondered if he knew anything at all. Then again, he hadn't even bothered to ask why she had missed her errand duty that day, so maybe he had already found her out. She strikingly wondered if he was just waiting for her guilt to eat away at her until she would beg for forgiveness. She supposed that seemed just a tad bit too dramatic.
As she got settled for bed, she suddenly reprimanded herself with new resolve. She had adopted one ideal: to use what ever talent she had been given for good. It didn't matter if her dad was against this. She had her mind set, and nothing was going to stop her.
oOo
Thank you guys so much for all the reviews! I love reminiscing about Wally, and feel free to continue! It made me happy to know I have all of you to share my remorse with.
*In your review, tell me how you would have Wally reenter the world of Young Justice if it were up to you!
Random Justice League Fact: In a JLA/Avengers crossover, the Justice League and Avengers must engage in a game where the JLA must collect six DC items of power and six Marvel items of power, and the Avengers must stop them. The game ends when Batman obtains the last item, despite Captain America's efforts to stop him.