A/N: As always, I would like to start this by thanking everyone for the wonderful reviews. They make me really happy and keep me going when I get a writer's block. I am always up for characters you guys' want added into the story or suggestions you have. Barbara Gordon will most likely be making an appearance in the next episode and Jason Todd will be in like six chapters. I have a slight outline in my head about how I want this to go, but it's not very specific, so for the most part I am writing this as I go along. Read and Review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, and sadly never will. (Most Likely)
The Things That Go On in The Middle of the Atlantic
It took them a day and a half to cross the Mediterranean and exit back out through the Straits of Gibraltar, taking them back to Miami, where they would dock and all go their separate ways for two weeks. Artemis was excited and not excited to go back to the States. Oliver was taking her to visit her mom, which was exciting. She hadn't visited her mom in a while and she missed her. But, she was staying with Oliver, which meant she was staying with Roy. Oliver had a big house, but it wasn't going to be big enough for her to avoid Roy completely for two weeks.
Artemis relaxed in the lounge chair, sunbathing with Zatanna. The two of them had been given the day off, and they were enjoying it.
"Wally!" Artemis shouted out, sitting up in the chair and lifting the sunglasses up onto the top of her head. Zatanna does the same. "Smoothies!"
"You could say please." Wally replies. Conner snickers quietly besides him.
"Why would I do a thing like that?" Artemis asked sweetly. Conner and Zatanna both laugh.
"I am so getting back at you tomorrow when I have my day off." Wally says, making a smoothie for both her and Zatanna. He brings them over.
"Anything else?" He asks them.
"I could go for a foot massage." Zatanna says.
"Why don't you ask Dick, I'm sure he would love too." Wally says, with a devious grin. Zatanna's cheeks turn bright red and she quickly lowers her sunglasses and sinks down in her chair.
"They got it so bad for each other." Wally whispers.
"Totally." Artemis whispers in reply.
"So, you need anything else? For real?" Wally asks.
"No, I'm good Wallman." Artemis says. He walks away and joins Conner back behind the counter.
"So Artemis." Zatanna says.
"So Zee." Artemis says in reply, lowering her sunglasses and staring out at the sea as they continued to chug across the Atlantic Ocean. People walked past on their way to various activities throughout the ship. She heard snippets of people talking about an archery lesson with Roy. That sucks for them.
"What are you doing on our weeks off? After that we will be stuck on this boat for three months." Zatanna says.
"I'm going to be hanging out with Oliver and Dinah in Star, and avoiding Roy." Artemis says.
"He's not that bad." Zatanna says.
"He's a first class jerk Zee."
"You just need to get to know him more."
"I've known him longer then you."
"Okay. I just hate when you guys fight." Zatanna states.
"Sorry Zee, it's just going to happen with us." Artemis says. "Subject change! What are you doing?"
"My dad and I are going to be staying with my grandparents. It's going to be the anniversary of my mom's death so we are going to bring flowers to her grave." Zatanna says sadly.
"I'm sorry Zee." Artemis says.
"It's fine. She died when I was really young, I barely even remember her. It's hardest on my dad. He really loved her." Zatanna says. Artemis just nods. She wouldn't know what true love looked like if it walked up to her wearing a shirt and a neon sign saying, "I'm true love."
"That sounds...hard." Artemis says dumbly.
"Yeah, but my dad always says that he wouldn't give up a single day that they spent together to lessen the hurt even a little bit."
"That's...amazing."
"I know." Both girls quietly stare out to sea lost in thought.
Artemis remembered the one time her family had actually acted like a family. It was after a good heist. Her dad had gotten a lot of money and had gone out and bought the really expensive necklace for her mom, a limited edition of Alice in Wonderland for six year old Jade, and a teddy bear for little Artemis, the same one probably still sitting on her bed in their empty family apartment. Anyways, they all went out to dinner afterwards at this Vietnamese restaurant and it had been really...normal. She hadn't realized until meeting Oliver and Dinah, just how much she had missed out. She could have had tons of moments like that, but she didn't.
The next day, true to his word, Wally found as many ways as possible to torture Artemis, who was working as a waitress. He, Dick, and Kaldur had the day off and were sitting around a round table in the dining hall, staring at a menu. As employees, they got free meals, but were still encouraged to leave tips.
"What do you guys want?" Artemis asked, approaching them, scowling. Somebody was not having a good day. Perfect.
"I would like to start with an appetizer." Wally starts, speaking really quickly. "I want nachos without the chili but extra guacamole and cheese. I also want light sour cream, not the regular fattening kind. I'm trying to loose a pound or two. Oh, and could you get the chef, is it Augustus today? Anyway, tell him that I would like the really hot sauce on it. Did you get all of that?" He looks over at Artemis scrawling on the notepad.
"Yeah I did." Artemis says, scowling. "You two want anything?"
They quickly shake their head when they realize that Artemis was on the warpath. When she had walked...err Stomped away.
"You just love waking the beast in her don't you?" Dick says, shaking his head.
"Two words Grayson pay back." Wally states.
"I do not see this ending well." Kaldur says to Dick.
"Me neither, buddy, me neither." Dick says, eyeing Wally across the table.
Wally annoyed Artemis to no end through the whole lunch. He made her get several water refills, ordered a complex meal and dessert, to name a few things. Wally knew by the end though, that Mt. Artemis was seconds away from exploding. So when she asked them if they needed anything else, he said no and left a fifteen-dollar tip, feeling bad. Kaldur, Dick, and Wally walked out to the pool where Raquel was the lifeguard of the day.
"What's up guys?" She asks.
"Wally here may have just made himself a dead man." Dick says.
"What did you do West?" Raquel asks.
"Nothing." Wally said at the same time Kaldur responded, "He annoyed Artemis when she was already in a bad mood."
"Dude, you are kid death wish." Raquel states, looking out to the pool. She sighs and blows the whistle in her mouth. "YO, you two break it up." She shouts at a pair of two kids fighting in the pool.
"We'll leave you to the lifeguarding, but I bet Kaldur will keep you company." Dick states, pushing Kaldur towards the lifeguard chair.
"I would love that." Raquel says, smiling. Kaldur gives Dick a look but is quickly being pulled up onto the lifeguard chair with Raquel. Dick and Wally quickly retreat away from the pool.
"You troll." Wally says, shaking his head.
"Whatever, those two totally have it for each other." Dick states.
"One of these days somebody is going to troll you and you'll know how it feels."
"Someday is not today Wallman."
"It'll be your funeral." Wally says.
The two boys walk along the deck passing passengers, no real destination. They talk and often laugh and are soon joined by Roy.
"Hey Roy." Wally says, excitedly. "What's up? How's the archery range? Where've you been?"
"I've been around, the range is fine." Roy replies curtly. "I was just going to get some lunch."
"Um...I would suggest avoiding the dining hall." Dick states.
"Why?" Roy asks, confused.
"Wally may or may not have ticked Artemis off and you being there might just make her go Kaboom." Dick tells him.
"Whatever. I'm hungry." Roy shrugs.
"Why don't you like her?" Wally asked out of the blue. "I mean she is super aggravating, and annoying, and always has to be right, but she isn't that bad."
"I don't trust her. There is something fishy about her, always has been." Roy replies.
"Have you ever considered that your being paranoid or that you're just not used to sharing Ollie and Dinah?" Dick questions.
"It's not that. There is something seriously weird about her. I thought you guys were my friends."
"We are your friends." Wally quickly says.
"Well then you guys need to keep an eye out on her. Tell me if there is anything suspicious about her." Roy says. Wally looks at the ground uneasily and Dick looks annoyed.
"Sorry Roy. Artemis is cool. If being friends with you means betraying her privacy, then I guess you'll have to find some new friends." Dick turns around. "You coming Wally?"
"I'll catch up with you in a bit." Wally says. Dick gives him a weird look, but quickly walks away. "Why do you think something is weird about her?"
"If they are in the middle of talking about her, they'll stop the second I enter the room. She's always very secretive about her comings and goings, and she has a few too many secrets for my liking." Roy explains.
"If I help you, will you stop bothering her so much? She's really nice and doesn't really deserve you being a jerk to her." Wally states.
"You like her." Roy responds.
"I do not. I just like making sure everyone is treated equally." Wally says in reply.
"Whatever Wally." Roy says walking away towards the dining hall.
"Hey, you never agreed to my terms!" Wally shouted out after him.
"Sure Wally." Roy shouts back, not even turning around. Wally sighed; this was the right thing, right? Roy had been his friend for a long time. He couldn't walk away from his friend like Dick. But yet, Artemis was his friend now too. When did all of this get so confusing?
Artemis was lying on her bed, reading a book for Dinah's class when she heard the knock. She put down the book on her nightstand, next to the picture of her with Ollie and Dinah and opened the door.
"What are you doing here Wallman?" Artemis asked, more confused then annoyed. She opened the door a little wider for him to come in. He stepped in and looked around her room.
"Why, you take the whole living free of entanglements to a whole new level." Wally announced taking a look around the sparsely decorated room. "The only thing that tells me that someone lives here is your backpack, poster, and picture. That's pretty sad."
"Why are you here Wally? Or did you just come to comment on my choice of decorating?" Artemis asked, still slightly annoyed at him from lunch.
"I needed a quiet place to read." Wally held up the same book Artemis had been reading a moment ago. "Conner's room is right next to mine and he and Megan are watching a movie together. It was really loud and I couldn't concentrate."
Artemis sighed. "The desk chair is all yours Baywatch." Artemis flops back down on her bed, picking up her book.
"Alice in Wonderland, I see you have a bit of an obsession." Wally notes pulling out a chair and sitting down. His eyes travel from the book on her desk to the poster on the wall her bed was alongside.
"The poster and book were my sisters." Artemis simply replies before she can stop herself. Idiot.
"You have a sister?" Wally asked surprised.
"Yeah." She said lamely.
"Does Oliver know her?" Artemis shook her head.
"She was a lot older then me and moved out when I was young." Artemis says, hoping that he believed it. Wally just nods.
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"Well two things. One I was a bit of a jerk at lunch." Wally starts. "And second, I'm sorry that you miss your sister."
"What makes you think I miss her?" Artemis questions.
"Why else would you keep the book and poster?" Wally says. Artemis just nods, and begins to read, Wally does the same. Artemis couldn't believe that Baywatch was the one to open her eyes to the fact that she missed her sister. She spent so much time pretending that she didn't resist and blaming her for everything that she didn't even stop to realize just how much she missed Jade. She missed the way she used to braid her hair and comfort her when mom and dad got in a fight. She always put band-aids on her cuts after training and always tried to stick up for her. When Jade ran away, she lost her best friend.
A small tear escaped, but Artemis quickly wiped it away, hoping Wally didn't notice. Of course, when is she ever that lucky?
"Artemis, are you crying?" Wally asked, sounding like he was in shock.
"No." Artemis replies, stuffing both of her hands in front of her eyes.
"You are." Wally says in amazement. Once he gets over the realization, he speaks again. "I'm sorry for making you bring up your sister."
"It's fine. I just... miss her sometimes." Artemis says.
"Anyone would. I bet you could call her or something." Wally offers. He sounded like he really wanted to help. Artemis wiped away the last of the tears. It had only been a few, but still, even a few tears were weakness in her eyes. Her dad's too.
"Yeah. I'll do that when we get back to the States." Artemis says half-heartedly. Wally seemed happy with the answer and they both go back to reading in silence.
A/N: So this chapter was not the most intense. It was just kind of a filler. I hope you liked it though! Review and give me your thoughts. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have chapter nine (nine!) up. Until then, enjoy life:)