A/N: What's up everybody? Happy almost Easter to everyone who celebrates it! I hope you guys like this chapter. Thank you everyone for the awesome reviews! My friends get really confused when I smile really widely when I read them on my phone. This isn't a really dramatic or action packed chapter, just some cute team moments and a set up for future chapters to come... Muhaha!
Disclaimer: Young Justice, despite all my wishes, does not belong to me.
Downtime
"For the last time Baywatch, pickles are not a vegetable!" Artemis says.
"They are! They are just cucumbers." Wally argues. The other six that were also out on the deck were watching them curiously. Barbara, who they had run into at dinner and invited to join them, watched with confusion.
"Do they do this all the time?" Barbara asks, quietly.
"Pretty much." Kaldur replies.
"We are waiting for them to just kiss already." Zatanna whispers back.
"Them?" Barbara asks, her eyebrows raised.
"It's a matter of time. She gets jealous when he talks to other girls. He can't stand it when she is with other guys." Megan explains.
"Aw." Barbara replies. The six of them, minus Dick, turn back to watch the two of them.
"The cucumbers have been soaked in vinegar. There by, loosing any nutritional value." Artemis states.
"You can't prove that."
"I can look it up on the internet."
"Do it. You'll see that I am right." Artemis is about to reply, when Dick clears his throat behind them. All eight of them spin around to see Dick standing just outside of their circle of chairs with a new boy besides him. Jason. The two of them almost could have passed for brothers, except for Dick's blue eyes and Jason's brown. Plus, Jason was taller then Dick and his hair was longer and more unruly.
"If you guys are done with your foreplay," Dick begins, earning him glares from both Wally and Artemis, "I would like to introduce you guys to my new brother, Jason."
Everyone says some form of greeting to the new boy. Jason simply nods his head, surveying the group.
"You already know Barbara, but this is Kaldur, Conner, Raquel, Zatanna, Wally, Megan, and Artemis." Dick says.
"We've met." Artemis replies. Jason smiles wickedly.
"Yep. She was the one who chastised me into going back instead of wondering around the ship aimlessly." Jason explains to a confused looking Dick. He nods, sending Artemis a grateful smile as the two of them lounge chairs up into the circle. Jason pulls his up next to Barbara, the two of them smiling at each other.
"So Barbara, you have any embarrassing stories of Dick that you can tell us?" Raquel asks.
"Oh, I have plenty. This one time in eighth grade..." Barbara starts, but is quickly interrupted by Dick.
"Alright, nobody wants to hear that story."
"I do." Jason says, smiling.
"Me too. I could always use some good leverage over Boy Wonder over here." Wally states.
Barbara and Dick exchange looks. Dick giving his friend a pleading look while Barbara just smiles.
"I'll tell you guys sometime this week when Dickie Bird over here to listen." Barbara assures them.
"Why did I ever think having you here was a good idea?" Dick asks, causing everyone to laugh.
"So..." Jason starts. "Where you guys all from? I feel like I should know this if I'm going to be joining the crew and all. Plus, Babs is probably curious." Jason nudges the girl next to him, who blushes, which did not go unnoticed by the other girls of the group.
"Chicago." Megan says cheerfully.
"Originally Metropolis, but I'm usually in Smallville these days." Conner says.
"Dakota City." Raquel tells him.
"Atlantis." Kaldur says. When Jason looks at him in confusion, he explains more. "It's a small island off the coast of Georgia."
"New York City." Zatanna tells the new boy.
"Central City." Wally says.
"Star City." Artemis replies.
"Really? You look really familiar, you ever been in Gotham?" Jason asks her. Everyone turns and looks at her.
"Yeah. I moved to Gotham when I was six." Artemis says. Her friends knew that she had lived in Gotham for a little while before moving back to Star.
"Where did you go to school?" Jason asks.
"Gotham North Elementary School." Jason snaps his fingers.
"That's it. You're Artemis Crock, you were in my fifth grade class." Jason informs her. Realization dawns on her.
"No way, your that Jason." Artemis says.
"What do you mean by that Jason?" Conner asks, voicing everyone else's confusion.
"Well I went to Gotham North before getting the scholarship to go to Gotham Academy." Jason starts.
"And he stole my lunch in fifth grade." Artemis says indignantly. The whole group begins to laugh.
"Wow Jason, I never took you as the bullying type." Barbara jokes.
"She didn't finish." Jason explains. "She left out the part about how after she found out it was me, she punched me in the face in front of the whole cafeteria. I had a black eye for two weeks."
"The two day suspension was totally worth it." Artemis admits, causing everyone to laugh all over again.
"Wow, there is a whole other side to you Blondie." Wally comments, laughing. Artemis reaches over and shoves him off of his seat onto the ground, causing everyone to laugh all over again. Once the laughter had died down and everyone had composed themselves, they were able to have an actual conversation again. Of course, they would usually end up laughing all over again. Over all, it was a pretty great night.
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Artemis sat down next to Ollie and Dinah at the table for breakfast the next morning. Ollie looked up from the sheet of paper he had been reading and Dinah did the same.
"Wow, not even married and you guys have the most domestic relationship I know." Artemis comments, taking a bite out of her toast.
"I'm taking that as a compliment missy." Oliver replies, resting the papers on the table. Dinah smiles at her.
"There is nothing wrong with being domestic." Dinah notes.
"I know, I just like teasing you guys." Artemis says smiling. Barbara walks by the table and Artemis smiles and waves at the girl. Dinah and Oliver smile at each other.
"So how is everything? Do I need to beat anyone up for you?" Oliver asks, earning him a laugh from the girl.
"Everything is actually surprisingly great Oliver. I'm...I'm really happy. I'm really happy that you guys brought me here. Thank you." Artemis tells them.
"Anything for you sweetie." Dinah assures her, smiling. "I've noticed you and Roy getting along well as well lately."
"Yeah, we've reached an understanding finally. I mean, I don't like the way it came about, but I much prefer getting along with him then fighting with him constantly." Artemis admits. The two adults laugh.
"I like it better that way too." Dinah tells Artemis, causing the younger girl to grin.
"You feel like sailing later today?" Oliver asks her.
"Sailing?"
"Yeah. We're coming into port in about three hours. After you guys work, we were thinking of giving all of you guys a chance to take a boat out for an hour or two. You guys can sail and have dinner on the beach." Dinah says.
"Wow, that sounds great." Artemis says. "But, I've never sailed before."
"Oh, don't worry, you're a smart girl, you'll get the hang of it in no time." Oliver assures her. She smiles widely.
"Hey Blondie, the new guy challenged me to an eating contest out on the bow, you coming?" Wally asks, materializing out of nowhere. Artemis looks down at her mostly empty plate and then looks at the older couple across from her. They nod and smile.
"Course I am Baywatch. You better put the new guy in his place." Artemis says, getting up and following after the boy. Oliver and Dinah exchange happy smiles as they watch the girl run off.
"She is so much...lighter." Dinah says, searching for the proper adjective. "So different then the dower thirteen year old girl who sat across from me the first day I met her."
"Is it wrong that I feel proud of her? I mean, I'm not her father or anything...yet..." Oliver trails off, earning himself a kiss from his fiancé.
"You're as much of a father as that girl has. You can be as proud as you want. I am too."
"I love seeing her happy."
"Me too Ollie, me too."
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"Warden, the prisoners are rioting down in the cafeteria." A breathless guard reports breathlessly. The warden frowns, but clicks on the comm unit.
"Lock down all exits, any extra guards head to the cafeteria. Do not let anyone escape." The warden says, before turning back to the guard in front of him. With two of his fingers, he motions to the three other guards in his office to go check it out.
"How did this happen?" The warden asks angrily.
"I don't really know. I was walking down the hallway when I saw the commotion forming. I ran up hear as quickly as possible." The blonde haired guard says weakly. The warden peers over the side of his desk, noticing the blood soaking the pant leg of the guard.
"Your leg." The warden says simply.
"I...was attacked. I got away, but somehow the prisoner had a knife." The guard explains.
"Well take a seat man. I don't need you fainting on me." The warden says. He gets up from his desk and begins pacing. "This is bad. This is Belle Reve, it's supposed to be one of the most secure prisons."
"I'm sure it'll be alright sir." The guard assures him.
"Maybe...Hopefully." The warden stops pacing. "I'm going to go check on it. Stay here, I'll send up a doctor."
"Thank you sir." The guard says gratefully. The warden nods and steps out of his office.
Two hours later, the warden returned to his office. They had managed to stop the riot and no prisoners escaped. The warden took that as a success. He collapsed into his chair, exhausted. The blonde haired guard from before was gone, but he didn't think anything of it. That was until he heard the report that a guard was found tied up in a closet. And then when a head count was taken, a prisoner was missing. His fears were confirmed when the doctor reported that when he arrived in the warden's office, nobody was there.
"I want face recognition, video feeds, anything and everything to identify and find this man. He is a dangerous man. We can't let this go public." The warden shouts to a group of soldiers in front of his desk.
"Sir, shouldn't we let somebody know, like the potential people he could go after?" A guard asks. The warden sighs.
"You, get on that." He points to the guard who nods and scurries out of the room. The warden sighs, this was a disaster.
^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^
He peeled off the guard uniform and pulled on a blue shirt and black pants from the storage he had stashed away in the town for when he would escape. He smiled maliciously as he surveyed his...toys in his bag. Lying there was his white mask. Everything was going perfectly. The only question now was which of his three girls was he going to be paying a visit to first.
A/N: And the plot thickens. Sorry for such a short chapter. I didn't really know what else to say for this chapter. Review and tell me what you thought. Thanks for reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon.