A/N: Thank you all my wonderful readers. I love you guys. Here's chapter 12! Two chapters in one day!
Disclaimer: Me no own Young Justice.
The Belle of the Ball Part 3
"Wow, I think I might have to just meet this Bart." Artemis declares laughing.
"He's a real piece of work, but he's my cousin, so I guess that makes him my piece of work." Wally admits, the two of them still twirling around the dance floor.
"Maybe we can compare notes. I'm sure I could pick up a few things from him to pull some pranks on you." Artemis teases.
"You're secretly evil Artemis Crock." Wally says, spinning her around.
"What can I say? It comes naturally." Artemis laughs. The two of them dance for the remainder of the song before taking a break and walking over to the table where Zatanna and Dick sat.
"You guys looked...cozy out there." Dick says, with a mischievous grin. Wally shoves him out of his seat.
"Shut up dude." Wally says, his cheeks flaming red. Zatanna and Dick just laugh.
"We're just friends." Artemis insists. "I'll be right back."
Artemis walks out of the ballroom into a lavish hallway. She knew she had spotted a bathroom around here somewhere. She felt a prickling in the back of her neck, the same thing she felt every time someone was trying to sneak up on her. She spun around to see...Roy. (A/N: Bet you all thought it was going to be Cameron:)
"What do you want Harper?" Artemis asks him.
"You and Wally seemed to have made up." Roy states. Artemis shrugs.
"Wally can be very forgivable when he wants too." Artemis responds.
"Look, Artemis, I was hoping we could start over. You were right, yesterday I was only really saying sorry to you because I felt pity. I realized, that I would be the same way. I guess we are kind of similar." Roy says, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Thank you for your consideration, but what do you want me to say?" Artemis questions. Roy smiles, and sticks out his hand.
"Hello, my name is Roy Harper. I have a hard time trusting people, I love Ollie and Dinah to death, and I hate being called carrot." Roy says. Artemis stared at him in shock. She had no clue that Roy was even capable of being kind, let alone funny.
"I'm Artemis Crock. I have a shady past, I've made a lot of bad decisions, and meeting Ollie and Dinah was the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm also not a big fan of the nickname Arty, but it is growing on me." She says, shaking his hand.
"Well we seem to have something in common already Artemis Crock." Roy declares.
"That we do, Roy Harper." Artemis replies.
"And just so you know, I don't pity you Artemis. Sure, I think that your past is sad, but you have Oliver, Dinah, Wally, and the rest of them now. You are quite lucky." Roy tells her.
"That I am." Artemis responds, smiling widely, pulling Roy into a hug. Neither of them were really huggers, but they made an exception.
"Aw, how cute. What a shame that I have to break up such a cute family moment." Cameron coos. Roy and Artemis break apart and turn to Cameron in anger.
"What the fuck are you doing here Mahkent?" Roy asks, clearly pissed.
"Oh, I'm not here for you Harper. We'll catch up another time. As much as I would love to catch up with my old classmate, I'm here for Artemis. You see we never got to finish our talk yesterday." Cameron says.
"Oh, you said quite enough Cam." Artemis replies, glaring at him. "You know between threatening to kill one of my best friends." Roy gives her a "what the fuck" look.
"Oh Tigress, you amuse me." Cameron chuckles. "You really do. Now come peacefully and none of your friends get hurt."
"If you haven't noticed Cam, you're outnumbered." Artemis says. "I know you were expelled, but I thought they taught you how to count in preschool."
"How'd you even get in here anyway?" Roy asks.
"I had an invitation." Cameron pulls an envelope out of his suit jacket. "You see one of my friends is a Star City Orphan, he was so kind as to give me his invitation."
"Okay, so you got here, but its just you. I could take you even in this dress." Artemis threatens, slipping off her heels.
"Well about that." Cameron snaps his fingers and five huge goons appear. "There was a back door. Now, Artemis come with me, and you don't have to mess up your pretty dress."
"What do you even want Cam?" Artemis questioned, still calm, but the facade was beginning to break.
"Well, when your dad breaks out, which he will, I'm sure he'll be willing to pay big bucks for the person responsible for putting him in jail." Cameron says with a malicious grin.
"How'd you even know about that? It was supposed to be anonymous." Artemis asks in annoyance.
"I have my ways. Last chance Tigress." Cameron states.
"Not in this life time." Artemis replies, kicking up her spare heel and throwing it at the nearest goon. The heel hits the guy in the eye, and he falls to the ground clutching his eye. For once, Artemis was happy for all her father's training. The four other goons approach Roy and Artemis.
"Well this is great brother sister bonding." Roy replies sarcastically.
"No shit." Artemis replies holding her remaining heel up as a weapon.
"I'm kind of wishing that Dinah had decided upon having security right about now." Roy says as he ducks from out of the way of a flying fist.
Artemis kicked a guy scare in the stomach, happy that the dress was loose at the end. She ducked under and oncoming punch and countered with a hard punch from under the chin, knocking the guy out. Her eyes were trained on Cameron though. A third guy ran at her, but she sweeped out his legs from under him and then went after Cameron, who realized that Roy and I had made easy work of his goons. She sprinted after him, down the hallway. He was going to pay.
"Artemis! What are you doing?" Roy shouted after her, as he ducked under another punch from the last standing guy. "Artemis!"
She ignored his shouts, keeping her eyes trained on Cam. He was not getting away with this. He wasn't going to ruin the gala, threaten her, and get away with it. Artemis ran after him through a back door leading to a side alley along the hotel. He took a right and she followed but they soon hit a wall. Cameron spun around and faced her, the cocky smile gone.
"Nowhere to go Cam. We're finishing this, just you and me." Artemis declares, holding up her fists in a fighting stance. The bottom of her dress was all dirty now and her hair was out of place, he was going to pay for that too.
"Aw Tigress, you're getting sentimental on me." Cameron says.
"Yeah, threatening to kill you is so sentimental." Artemis responds, taking another step forwards so that he was backed up against the wall.
"You don't have to do this baby, remember how it used to be?" Cameron asks, raising his eyebrows.
"Gross." Artemis simply states, kicking him in the side. He follows to the ground, but rolls out of the way to avoid any other attacks.
"You've replaced me haven't you Tigress. It's the redhead you were dancing with isn't it? Seriously, you think he or any of them are still going to like you after they learn what I know about you?" Cameron asks, pulling himself back up, Artemis punches him in the stomach and he counters with a fist to her face. They both stagger away from each other, Cameron's back still against the way. Artemis spits blood onto the concrete.
"Harper still seems to like me." Artemis jumps up and kicks him in the face.
"Harper doesn't count. The dude's a weirdo." Cameron states, punching Artemis in the stomach. Artemis doubles over and just manages to roll out of the way of a boot to the face. She pops back up.
"You were never a good judge of character."
"Neither were you."
The two of them stood facing each other, both a little worse for wear, both glaring at the other.
"Artemis! Artemis! Where are you?" Voices shouted. Artemis smiled, knowing that her friends were coming with backup.
"It's over Cam, I win." Artemis declares.
"What did I use to always say to you Artemis?" Cameron asks as two forms jumped over down from the top of the wall from the other side. Artemis didn't even realize what was happening until one had grabbed her on each side and Cameron had a gun trained on her. "Now, what was it again?"
"Don't count on the win, until the final score is posted." Artemis whispered, staring at the opening.
"Ding, ding, ding, and the million dollars goes to Artemis Crock. Now let's go meet this back up of yours." Cameron states. The two goons spin around, keeping Artemis's feet off of the ground. She thrashed around widely, but they didn't loosen their grips. Cameron followed behind, the gun trained on her head. At the other end of the alley, they hit Wally, Conner, Kaldur, Dick, Zatanna, Roy, Raquel, Megan, Dinah, and Ollie. Ollie looks furious and takes a step to punch the nearest guy in the face, Conner too. But Cameron speaks before they could do anything.
"Any of you move, I have a gun trained on her back and I am not afraid to use it." They quickly dropped their guard. Artemis hung her head in shame. This...this was hell. She searched the faces of her friends, finding Wally, who looked furious, madder then she had ever seen him.
"Can't we talk about this?" Kaldur asks.
"Hmm...I've never been one for talking, especially when it involves Artemis. I much prefer...action." Artemis cringed at Cameron's stupid voice. Ten sets of laser eyes threaten to burn right through Cameron.
"What do you want? Money, I have money." Oliver pleads.
"Money from you? I doubt you could offer what her..." Artemis realized what he was about to say. Her eyes snapped open. She had worked to hard to keep her secret to have Cameron tell them all. She made a split second decision, knowing that this was going to hurt... a lot.
She throws her legs up over her head, like she is doing a flip, her legs making contact with their target, Cameron's head. The one problem was the guards still holding her arms in place. She almost passed out right there from the pain in her shoulders. She might have screamed, but she didn't even noticed. The momentum of her kick sent Cameron flying into one of the goons and the gun sailing out of his hand.
It lands closest to Raquel, who picks it up and runs off to get rid of it, not wanting to take a chance that it could end up back in Cameron or his goons hands. Black spots appear in Artemis' vision as she struggles to stay conscious. The guard that Cameron had flown into had released her and before she knew it, Oliver had punched the last goon hard in the face.
Artemis fell to the ground, trying not to throw up from the pain. She breathed heavily, trying not to focus on the pain. She felt arms wrap around her and lift her up, bridal style. She struggled, thinking that it was Cameron holding her.
"Artemis, Artemis, stop. It's just me." She heard. She opened her eyes, and once the dizziness had cleared, she saw that it was Wally holding her.
"Wally?" She mumbled as he ran her back inside the hotel away from the goons. Megan and Zatanna close behind.
"Yeah Beautiful?" He asked.
"Can you put me down? I think I'm going to throw up." Artemis tells him.
"I'll grab a bucket." Zatanna states, running off. Wally comes to a stop in a side hallway, and puts her down. She felt woozy, pretty sure that she had ripped both of her shoulders out of her sockets.
"Okay, I know this isn't exactly the time, but what the hell were you thinking when you ran after Cam?" Wally asks her. She looked at him in confusion. "Roy caught us up on everything while we were running around looking for you. Oliver almost had a heart attack."
"Sorry. So Sorry." Artemis mumbled, trying to not throw up.
"It's okay, as long as you are okay, everything is fine." Megan states. Raquel, Dinah, Oliver, and Dick come running down the hallway.
"Oh my gosh Artemis, you're okay." Dinah exclaims, dropping to the floor and hugging her almost daughter tightly. Oliver does the same.
"Guys, I'm sorry. You're gala." Artemis has to stop talking as another wave of nausea over comes her. Where was Zatanna?
"The gala doesn't matter as long as you are okay? I was so worried." Oliver says.
"I'm fine. Cameron got the worst of it." Artemis says, her vision finally going normal. "Shows that son of a bitch right."
Everyone laughs, relieved that she was acting like herself. Zatanna comes running with the bucket. Artemis accepts it gratefully, just as another wave of nausea passes through her. She throws up, Dinah holding back her hair.
"We should get you to a hospital, that flip thing must have pulled your shoulders out of their sockets." Roy states.
"Really? That's why my shoulders feel like hell?" Artemis replies sarcastically.
"I'll take you over." Oliver states, bending down to pick her up.
"I can walk, you don't have to do that." Artemis says, but Oliver hears nothing of it. He turns to Dinah and Roy.
"You guys come over at the end of the gala." He tells them. They both nod, knowing that Oliver was using his "head of a multi billion dollar company" voice. He turns to the others. "You can see Artemis when we return. Tell your guardians that the limos will be out front. Oh, and check on Kaldur and Conner, they're waiting for the police."
Everyone nods. "Get better 'Mis." Dick says, smiling at her. She just nods. Oliver carries her out of the hotel, hailing the Queen family driver.
"Hospital please." Oliver states, laying Artemis out against the backseat. It takes everything in her not to moan in pain when her shoulder hits the seat. As the car pulls away, Artemis drifts off to sleep.
^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^
Artemis sat in her old bedroom in Gotham, Jade sat in front of her in her own bed. She was normal looking, not like her thief name, Cheshire.
"Jade!" Artemis says excitedly.
"Hey little sister. Nice job taking out the baddie, father dear would be oh so proud." Jade says the last part sarcastically.
"I'm just glad to be done with Cameron, and now he can't tell dad that I'm with Oliver."
"What about his dad?"
"He's a coward and would never dream of it. Plus, isn't he in prison too?" Artemis asks.
Jade smiles. "When did you get so smart?"
"When you left." Artemis replies.
"Oh, don't be bitter little sis, it's unbecoming."
"Whatever."
"By the way, do you have a thing for flash boy?"
"No way. Wally and I are just friends."
"Artemis, I'm your conscience, you totally have a thing for him."
"Wait, you're a criminal, how could you be my conscience?" Artemis asks.
"This is a dream. I can take any form you want me to take." Jade says shrugging.
"Whatever." Artemis replies. Slowly her old bedroom and Jade fade away, and she is awakened in a hospital. A doctor stands over her as well as Oliver.
"Can you sit up Miss Crock?" The doctor asks. She does just that. "Now, both of your shoulders need to be put back in their sockets. This might be a bit painful, okay?"
"Okay." Artemis says bracing for the pain.
"Alright me and Nancy here," Artemis looks over to see a nurse she hadn't originally noticed, "Are going to each do an arm at the same time. Ready? One...two...three."
Artemis screamed out in pain.
^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^
(Two Days later)
Artemis walked up the gangplank onto the ship, Megan besides her, holding her backpack. Her shoulders were both wrapped and she needed to take it easy for a couple of days, besides that and a scratch on her face, Artemis was fine. She chatted happily as they walked up the gangplank and along the deck. People rushed by, barely noticing the two girls.
Megan looked over to the basketball court where Wally, Dick, Conner, Raquel, Zatanna, and Kaldur were all playing. Megan had volunteered to help Artemis get all her stuff ready, so they had been a little behind everyone else.
"The gala was so much fun, until you know..." Megan trails off but quickly recovers. "I actually got Conner to dance with me. He usually refuses to dance, and did you see Kaldur and Raquel? The two of them would make such a cute couple."
"Totally." Artemis says grinning.
"But you know who would make the cutest couple, you and Wally!" Megan declares. "You're so full of passion and he's so full of...um..."
"It?" Artemis offers as she spots Wally shoot an air ball. The two girls laugh, but Artemis remembers her strange dream from on her way to the hospital. Maybe...just maybe...
A/N: You guys like it? I had a lot of fun writing the fight scene, I haven't really written a lot of them before. I can't believe I did two posts in one day! I was just super exited about this I guess:) Chapter thirteen will come sometime this week, I can't guarantee when. Hopefully before the final episode (Tears). Until then, review or PM me, I love hearing from you guys.