A/N: One week, it's been one week since the ending of Young Justice. I miss the show a lot. Sorry I've been really busy and haven't had a lot of time to write recently. *Sigh* I really don't have much to say.
Disclaimer: Young Justice does not belong to me.
Exits and Enters
"Jade?" Artemis asked in shock, staring at her sister. Another set of footsteps sounding louder.
"Shit." Jade said, standing up. She grabs Artemis arm, pulls her up, and begins to run, pulling Artemis along with her. "I'll explain later."
"What the hell Jade?" Artemis asks, hearing shouts behind them. Of course her sister would drag her into this. Of course.
"Less talking more running." Jade demands, pulling her down a back alley and then into another one. Jade pulls her behind a dumpster and they listen quietly as the sound of footsteps run past and then disappear. They remain quiet for a little while longer, Artemis wondering if her friends had realized she was gone yet.
"What the hell is this about Jade? Why are you here?" Artemis asks, the two of them standing up. Jade takes off the black ski mask, placing it in her bag, which Artemis could only assume also had whatever she had just stolen.
"Nice to see you two baby sister. How are all your little friends?" Jade asks with her usual mocking tone.
"Give it a rest Jade and answer one of my questions for once!" Artemis demands, angrily.
"You and your answers." Jade says rolling her eyes. "You're almost as bad as Roy." She quickly covers her mouth, realizing what she just said.
"How...how do you know Roy?" Artemis asks.
"Oh I know everything." Jade says, settling on the ominous act.
"That's bullshit. Were you on the boat? Cause its a little bit to much of a coincidence that you are here at the same time as the boat just like Corsica." Artemis says.
"Coincidences are a part of life, get used to it." Jade checks her watch. "As much as I've loved this talk, I have a boat to catch. I hope you know my same threat lingers."
"I won't talk as long as dad stays out of the loop." Artemis says, defeated.
"Good, but we both know dad is getting out sooner or later and then it's every Crock girl for herself."
"What do you mean? I haven't relied on you since I was eight."
"I mean, that you're going to abandon all those nice little friends of yours as soon as you get a chance. It's what we do as Crocks." Jade says, picturing Roy in her mind.
"Yeah, well haven't you heard, I'm practically a Queen now." Artemis walks away this time, leaving Jade alone. At the end of the alley she spins around to look to see if her sister is still there. She isn't.
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Two days later the S.S. Justice came into port in Miami. The teens helped carry bags off of the boat for the passengers, but by noon, they had the afternoon off. The eight of them sat on along the dock, their feet resting in the warm water, eating sandwiches provided by Augustus. Dick could barely sit still he was bouncing with so much energy.
"Dude, chill." Wally says as Dick taps his hands against the dock. The others all nod in agreement.
"Seriously Dick, why so hyper?" Raquel asks.
"It's not everyday you get to meet your new brother and visit with your best friend that you don't get to see a lot." Dick tells them. "You guys are going to love Babs."
"I feel like I already know her." Megan says, laying a hand on Dick's shoulder. Zatanna nods. Things were still a little cool between them, but they were working it out. Zatanna had realized that she was being a bit ridiculous and had stopped with the silent treatment but things still weren't the same between them.
"Thanks. I promised her that this will be the best week ever." Dick says excitedly, still tapping his fingers.
"Okay, dude, why don't you do some back flips or whatever to get rid of some of that excess energy. Geesh, you're even worse then me right now." Wally says, earning an elbow in the shoulder from Artemis.
Dick rolls his eyes, but does stop tapping finally. Everyone finishes their sandwiches and then get up and walk across the dock back towards the boat.
"Dick!" Everyone turned to see a red haired girl smiling at them and approaching. Dick walks over and greets her with a hug and a big smile. He walks back over to the group followed by Barbara.
"Everyone, this is my friend Barbara Gordon." Dick says. "Barbara, this is Wally, Megan, Conner, Kaldur, Artemis, Raquel, and Zatanna."
Megan approaches the girl first, hugging the fellow red head. "Oh my gosh, I feel like I already know you from all the stories Dick has told us. It's so nice to finally meet you." Barbara looks a little shocked about being hugged, but she goes with it.
"Nice to meet you two Megan. I've heard all about the park incident." Barbara says with a smile. Everyone laughs good naturally, even Megan. Barbara looks over at Zatanna, and gives Dick a sly grin.
"You're Zatanna right? You're even prettier then Dick told me." Barbara says smiling. Dick turns bright red and Zatanna laughs nervously.
"Uh...thanks?" Zatanna says.
"Don't mention it." Barbara says with a smile. Artemis and Wally exchange a look, this girl was like a female version of Dick. This was going to be one interesting week.
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A short while after that, Barbara left to go check out her room with her dad and Bruce called Dick up to the deck to meet Jason. He left, nervously drumming his fingers against his thigh.
"Hey Dick!" Artemis called out after him. He spun around, a questioning look on his face. "Get traught!"
"Stay Whelmed." Megan shouted encouragingly.
"Feel the aster." Conner says as well.
Dick grins at all of us, before disappearing into the crowd. The seven remaining teens began working their way through the crowds as well to get back up onto the ship.
"So where are we going now?" Wally asks Megan.
"Uncle John said that we are going around the Florida Keys." Megan replies.
"Sounds like fun." Artemis replies.
"Any place we go would be considered as fun." Zatanna says with a grin. The seven of them all laugh. They didn't notice Dinah approaching them until she was speaking.
"Shouldn't all of you be working on that assignment I gave you all yesterday?" Dinah asks them.
"Aw, come on Dinah." Wally protests.
"Nope, I want you all in your rooms working on your work, now." Dinah insists. They all groan, but they all know not to go against her. They all walk up the gangplank and then disappear below deck.
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Two hours later, Artemis was finally done. She emerged from her room and walked down the hall towards the elevator. The elevator doors open and she steps in. At the last second, a hand appears, stopping the doors from completely closing. A boy with black hair Artemis had never seen before stepped in. Jason. The boy looks Artemis up and down.
"Eyes up here buddy." Artemis tells him. They boy's brown eyes look up at Artemis' face.
"Sorry." He says, not sounding very apologetic. "I'm Jason Todd, but I'm assuming you know my name."
"Artemis Crock, one of Dick's friends." Artemis replies.
"Ah, so you are close with my new "brother". Lucky me since I'm supposed to stay close to Grayson for the first few days on here." Jason says, Artemis rolls her eyes. The elevator arrives on the main level and the two of them step out.
"Yeah, and how's that working out?" Artemis asks him. He shrugs.
"I told Grayson I was going to the bathroom and then I snuck out. I don't need a babysitter." Jason says.
"So are you just going to wonder around the boat aimlessly?" Artemis asks, stepping out onto the deck. Jason follows.
"That's the plan. I figure there has got to be something fun to do around here." Jason says.
"It's a cruise ship, there is always something to do." Artemis tells him.
"You know, I still need a tour..." Jason trails off as Artemis rolls her eyes.
"I'm going to the archery range. I haven't been able to shoot anything in over a week, nothing is stopping me from hanging around in the range for the next several hours." Artemis explains.
"Violent." Jason simply replies.
"I'll see you around Newbie. You should find Dick though, he's probably looking for you." Artemis tells him.
"Yeah...probably not."
"Hey, he's been excited about you showing up here, the least you could do is try to get to know him and Bruce. They are both really nice. There are worst places you could end up." Artemis tells him, turning away.
"Fine." Artemis spins around again. "You're right."
"I'm always right. Hey, we all hang out on the starboard deck after dinner every night. You should come to meet everyone, make friends."
"Maybe."
Artemis smiles; the guy reminded her a lot of herself when she first arrived. She hadn't realized until then just how much she had changed since coming on the boat. She had finally learned to trust and open up to people. She hoped that Jason could eventually do the same because everyone deserves to have friends.
"See you around." Artemis says, turning back to the range.
"See ya."
Artemis walks across the ship to the archery range. She had wanted to talk to Roy since her encounter with Jade in Puerto Rico. Something didn't seem right to her. She walked through the sliding doors, and sure enough Roy was they're helping a small boy with black hair hold the bow, his parents stood off to the side watching and taking pictures.
"Good, place your hand right there Tim." Roy instructs the boy. The boy bit his lip in concentration as he pulled back an arrow and released. Artemis watched as the arrow hit the very edge of the target. Tim smiled widely and his parents clapped.
"Good job. I'll see you in here tomorrow to do some more?" Roy asks.
"Of course." Tim says excitedly. He places the bow on a small table and runs over to join his parents. His dad takes out a ten-dollar bill and hands it to Roy as he passes. The family smiles at Artemis as they walk past her and out the door. Roy puts the money in his pocket.
"Whatcha you here Arty?" Roy asks with a grin. Artemis picks up her favorite bow and grabs a few arrows.
"I'm here to shoot things. Why else would I be here?" Artemis asks him with a grin.
"I don't know. I think a girl left a bottle of nail polish somewhere if you wanted to do your nails." Roy responds, grinning as well. He grabs a bow as well. They walk over to two targets besides each other. Artemis shoots first, bulls' eye.
"That's so me." Artemis replies blandly. Roy notches an arrow and gets ready to release it. "So, how do you know Jade?"
Roy's arrow goes far to the left, hitting the side of Artemis' target. Roy stares at Artemis, flabbergasted. Artemis calmly notches another arrow and shoots another bull's eye.
"How...How do you know Jade?" Roy asks.
"I shared a room with her for eight years, the better question is how do you know her?" Artemis asks, putting down the bow.
"What? Jade...Jade is your sister? The one who left you?" Roy asks, putting down his bow as well.
"Yes. Now, how the hell do you know her?" Artemis asks.
"She...I...she was staying on the boat and I found her." Roy admits.
"ROY! She's a criminal. You let a criminal stay on the boat. I can't believe you didn't tell Ollie? What if somebody finds out?" Artemis shouts at him.
"She didn't harm anybody." Roy fires back.
"She's still a criminal." Artemis replies.
"Why do you hate your sister so much?" Roy yells.
"Why shouldn't I hate her? She left me! You know what the real surprise is? I don't hate her. I really should, but I don't." Artemis responds, shouting.
"You...what?"
"Jade...for the longest time it was her and me against the world. When mom and dad would be fighting, she would let me climb into her bed and she would hug me and brush my hair to help me get to sleep. She would walk me to school everyday to make sure that I wasn't kidnapped. Jade was my protector and my best friend. And then...and then she left. She left and didn't even tell me where she was going. Didn't leave a way for me to get in contact with her. I hadn't seen her in eight years until I saw her in Corsica."
"Corsica?" Roy asks.
"She was the thief. I let her go so she wouldn't tell our dad where I am like she threatened. She threatened to ruin everything that I've worked for, my safety to extend her own means. I should hate her and never ever want to speak to her, but I don't. I just...I want my sister back." Artemis says. Roy approached her and wrapped his arms around her hugging her. "Why don't I hate her?"
A/N: So I have a five-day weekend coming up, so hopefully I'll get a bunch of chapters up. I hoped you guys liked Jason and Barbara. I totally agree with everyone who said that Jason and Artemis should be friends; they would totally be great friends. Review and tell your thoughts. Thanks for reading.