Hey! Super long Artemis/Renee bonding chapter with mentions of Spitfire and including Robin/Renee... :) thanks for all the reviews! And for disclaimer see chapter one...
"Alright guys, pair up and spar," Black Canary ordered. We were in training, and I was in my green haired self. The identity charm made me feel nauseous, and I hated wearing it more than I had to.
"Spar?" Artemis nudged me.
"Sure," I nodded, watching as Connor and Kaldur went up first. They started to fight, and I turned to Artemis.
"So, what are you planning in doing after training?" It was mid summer, and even though there was a two year age gap, Artemis and I were good friends. It was like Wally and Robin, except female, and with an archer and a... jeezum, I don't know what I am. I'm not a ninja, an archer, or anything like that. I'm a Jeezum, let's leave it at that.
"Nothing, maybe sleeping. You?" She whispered back, neither if our eyes leaving the training match in front of us.
"Nothing. Canary said I could stay overnight tonight, so you wanna head out and do something?" I asked, eyes flicking to her for a split second.
"Sure. Where do you wanna go?" She met my eyes.
"I heard Gotham Fair was open, we could head there?"
"Ok, but I'd use your charm, it's not everyday you see a girl with green hair," she smirked, and I nodded, agreeing with her.
AQUALAD: FAIL, echoed round the hall and we watched as Wally and Megan went up. Artemis' eyes narrowed, as she watched Wally flirt with the resident Martian girl.
"How's it going with you and Wally?" I bit my lip.
"He doesn't notice me," she whispered.
"I'm sure he will," I whispered back, "and I'm sure he already does. Maybe fighting with you is his way of trying to spend time with you? Maybe he wants you to notice him, and that's why he's always insulting you," I shrugged.
"For a girl who's never had a relationship," Artemis looked at me shocked, "you're good at relationship advice."
"We all have that one friend," I smiled, "apart from me, but then again, I am that friend," I shrugged, pretending to sigh.
KID FLASH: FAIL, Artemis and I looked up as Wally slammed into the ground.
"Go M'Gann!" I called, laughing, as Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Come on you two, winner faces Robin," Canary tipped her head in the direction of the glowing blue ring.
BEGIN, the computer system intoned, and we started to fight. Artemis threw a punch at my face, that I dodged. I came at her from under her punch, blinding her to my movements. I aimed for her solar plexus, but she turned and I hit her hip bone, making my fingers crack.
"Oww," I glared at her, but couldn't hide the smile that twisted the corners of my mouth up. Artemis laughed at me, her eyes closing. I sweep kicked her, not going down low enough though, and let my toes hit the back of her knee. Her leg buckled, sending her to the ground with a loud thud. I leaped over, twisting both her arms up her back.
"Why did you go easy on me?" I asked, helping her up after the computer announced her failure.
"Quality time with Robin," she whispered into my ear, so quietly I doubt Connor heard her. My jaw dropped.
"Well, don't head east. I'll meet you on the kitchen after," I smirked, referring the Wallys surname. Artemis walked off laughing, and Robin jumped into a defensive stance.
BEGIN, I threw a punch, but he flipped over me. I spun round to kick his feet out from underneath him, but he had already gone.
"Jeezum," I gasped, feeling his foot connect with my back. I launched into a forwards roll, turning round just in time to block a punch to my face. I handspringed off his shoulders, but when I moved to punch him, he grabbed my wrists and kicked my ankles, but turned us around so that he would land on his back and not on me.
"Jeezum," I said again, my forehead making contact with the hard padding in his chest. "Ouch," we both grunted.
ROBIN: FAIL, I rolled off him, massaging my forehead. JEEZUM: FAIL. I cracked up, a computer's voice saying jeezum with no emotion was extremely funny from my point of view. I sat up, finally stopping my laughs, to see everyone looking at me strangely.
"What?" I asked.
"Never mind," Wally shook his head. I looked to Artemis for an explanation, but she was just smirking. I raised an eyebrow.
"Tell you later," she mouthed, and I narrowed my eyes.
"Training's over. Robin, I want to talk to you. Alone," we all filed out the room, leaving Robin to face Black Canary alone.
We all quickly showered, and I met Artemis is the kitchen.
"Tell me," I demanded, slipping on my charm to become Marie. Marie was my middle name, not bringing suspicion to the fact I was the Renee Hearne, kidnapped and bandages by the Joker, and now adopted by Dinah Lance, girlfriend of Oliver Queen.
"Well," Artemis waited until we had gone through the zeta beams before she continued, "you didn't notice did you!" She burst out.
"Notice what?" I asked, bemused.
"Robin. He was staring at you all the time we were talking, and fighting. And when you two fought, he took the fall for you do you wouldn't get injured!" I didn't know it was possible for Artemis to squeal.
"Tell that to his chest padding," I rubbed my forehead where it had come in contact with said padding.
"And I bet that's why Dinah held him back," Artemis reasoned. We were in the broad streets of Gotham now, saying Canary would look suspicious.
"I doubt it, it was probably to reprimand him, injuries come with the job," in the last part, I did a pretty good imitation of Dinah.
"And anyway, what about you and Wally?" I nudged her, changing the topic. Thankfully, she didn't notice.
"Baywatch is... Baywatch," she sighed.
"Two teen tickets please," I smiled at the boy standing at the ticket booth. He looked around 16, and upon catching sight of Artemis, started to stutter.
"Ur, that'd be, ur, $11.99?" He asked.
"You tell me, I'm not the one with the calculator in front of them," I smiled sweetly, as Artemis smirked behind her hand at the poor boy.
"$11.99," he said again, surer this time. I handed over the money, and took the entry tickets.
"C'mon Arty," she was smirking to hard to complain against the nickname.
"What do you want to go on first?" I asked, stopping in the middle of the fair.
"How about... that one," Artemis pointed towards a large, green rollercoaster called ´The Joker ´.
"Really?" I asked her, one eyebrow raised.
"Oh yeah... sorry," she muttered.
"Eh, it's fine. I wanted to see your reaction. C'mon then!" I grabbed her by the cook of the elbow, and ran towards the sickly green rollercoaster.
After going on many rides with multiple twists, turns, and loop-the-loops, it was finally sunset.
"I should head home,"Artemis sighed. I nodded, and we started to walk out.
"Ok, see you tomorrow?" I asked.
"Yeah, will you be okay walking back to the zeta beam by yourself?" She asked, worried. She knew the horrors Gotham could hold, even with the best attempts of Batman, Robin and the GCPD.
"I'll be fine. See you!" I waved, walking away.
I looked around myself at the city that was Gotham. I grew up here, sometimes Artemis forgets that. Honestly, sometimes I do too. I paused in my thoughts, becoming more attentive to the world around me.
"What's a pretty girlie like yourself doing out on her own, hmm?" I felt a clammy hand on my shoulder, intoxicated breath on the back of my neck.
I didn't stop walking, causing him to call out after me.
"Hey! We just want to have some fun!" There was more than one of them. Another man, a third, stepped out the shadows in front of me. My first uppercut his chin, his head snapping back and causing him to fall against the wall of the alley, effectively knocking him out.
"Don't do that to-" he was cut off by a blunt batarang knocking him out. The other man choked back a scream, and ran off into the shadows.
"I could've dealt with that," I sighed, turning to face the Boy Wonder.
"Doesn't mean I couldn't help," he frowned.
"No, but it does mean you could have bypassed me and helped someone who needed it," I exclaimed.
"Maybe I didn't want you to get injured!" He cried at me, a disbelieving expression on his face.
"You're not my boyfriend!" I screamed at him. It was a lot blow, and it visibly rattled him.
"Why did you take the fall for me, Robin?" I asked in a calmer tone, referring to the sparring session in training.
"I didn't want you to get injured," he sighed, running a hand through his messy hair.
I nodded, and turned away, planning on heading back to the zeta beams.
"Renee?" Robin called after me, breaking my cover as Maria.
"Yeah?" I stopped.
"Have you grieved yet?" He asked.
"What for?" I asked, confused.
"Your parents," he said, taking a few steps towards me. My bottom lip trembled, and a rogue tear trickled down my cheek. And I broke down into sobs, right there in a Gotham alleyway.
"Wanna go back to the cave?" Robin suggested, as he comforted me.
"I don't want the team to see me like this," I choked out.
"Star City?" I shook my head.
"Come with me then," he picked me up.
"Hold on tight," he chuckled, placing me on a motorcycle behind him.
"Put this on," he handed me a helmet with a darkened visor, so I couldn't see out of it.
"What's with this? I know who you are, I've been to the Batcave before," I put it on anyway.
"Your identity protection," he said, making the motorcycle roar off into the streets of Gotham.
I couldn't remember the twists and turns even if I wanted to, but when the bike finally slowed to a stop, I fell off.
"Ow," I said flatly, standing up again. The room was cold, and you could hear the chattering of bats somewhere in the roof.
"You can take that off now," Robin said, and I immediately did, recognising the sight of the Batcave.
"Why did you bring her here?" Batman didn't even look up from his computer.
"Well, she was spending the day with Artemis at Gotham Fair-" he started.
"Stalker," I interrupted.
"Then when she was walking back to the zeta beam she got cornered,"
"I was handling it!" I exclaimed.
"Sure," Robin scoffed.
"I knocked out one, you knocked out one, the third ran away screaming," I pointed out. Robin told his eyes behind the mask.
"And then she broke down in the middle of the alley," he deadpanned.
"You asked if I had grieved for my parents yet!" I pointed an accusatory finger.
"Fair," Robin shrugged, "plus she already knows it t identities, and has been here before," he reasoned.
"Fine, take her upstairs if you want. You can remove the charm, Renee," Batman looked up and... smiled. That's actually kind of scary. Robin quickly ducked in and out of a changing room, coming out as Dick Grayson in great sweats and a black t-shirt.
"C'mon," he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into an elevator, that started moving upwards. I removed my bracelet, changing my hair back to green. I had, surprisingly, become fond of this shade. It shows what I went through, and it makes me, well, me.
"Why are we in such a rush?" I asked, leaning against one wall of the elevator.
"Alfreds cookies should be done soon," he stepped out of the elevator, which I now realised was behind a grandfather clock.
"I'm guessing this Alfred is Agent A?" I asked, following him or if the room and down multiple corridors. The smell of freshly baked cookies spread through the manor.
"Yeah, we gotta hurry up if we want warm cookies,"he started to run, and I almost lost him in this maze of a house.
"Jeezum, where are we going?" I changed after him. He darted into a room, where the smell was coming from.
"Hey Alfred," Dick grinned, greeting an elderly man who was holding a tray of freshly baked cookies.
"Oh yeah, Renee, this is Alfred, but you know him as Agent A from the Batcave, that night we rescued you," Dick gestured from me to Alfred.
"Thank you for the soup, Alfred," I smiled at him.
"That is quite alright, Miss Renee. Would you and Master Dick like a cookie?" He lowered the tray down slightly.
"Yes! Thanks Alfred," Dick cried, taking a cookie and cycling one at me. It was only because of Joker heightening my reflexes that I caught it.
"When do you need to go back to Star?" He asked me, biting into the chocolate chip cookie.
"I don't. I'm staying at the cave tonight," I took my own bite, and smiled.
"Cool, I'll probably stay too," he grinned. I paused, thinking of something Artemis says earlier.
"Why did Dinah hold you back?" I asked.
"Wanted to remind me I won't be able to protect you in the field, that's all," he shrugged. Hmm, maybe Artemis is worse at relationship advice than either of us thought.