A/N: I'm Back! I survived! I successfully finished my term paper. It had a four-page limit, who the hell gives a four-page limit for a term paper? And it was double-spaced. Mine was eight pages...yeah...I had to pretty much cut it in half. It ended up having fewer words then what I use for a normal chapter in this story.
Yeah, that was my rant. Besides all that stress, there was an insane amount of Young Justice moments in my life this week. Like at lunch, my friend was doing her homework and she suddenly goes "I hate Godfrey." (From the book Silas Marner). My class hasn't read it yet, so I immediately thought of Gordon Godfrey. And then today, on the drive back from track (Wally!) my friends were talking and I kind of zoned out until one of them goes "Today is the day!" Why does this hurt so much?
Okay, this is the actual end of my rant. Wow, I totally just went off on a tangent. I hope you enjoy this chapter. All the building suspense from the last few chapters is about to boil over. Get ready.
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Young Justice. Yes, I am a huge fan.
The Pieces Come Together
"Artemis." Artemis looks over to Wally, his voice breaking her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine, why?" Artemis says, relaxing in the recliner. Their friends were all swimming but Wally and Artemis had opted to sit out for a little bit.
"You've just been really quiet since last night." Wally tells her. "After the ice cream shop. Does this have anything to do with that Sportsmaster dude?"
Artemis hides her cringe at the name. It sounded terrible in Wally's voice. When he said it, she pictured her dream. She pictured the javelin being lowered into Wally's chest. Something in her face must have clued Wally in.
"Are you afraid of him or something?"
"Course I'm afraid of him, he's a wanted criminal. It's not that I'm just..." Artemis quickly comes up with an excuse, "Nervous for the wedding. I'm going to be a terrible maid of honor."
"Oh yeah, you're going to suck." Wally says with a grin. Artemis reaches across and punches him in the shoulder. "But, Dinah and Oliver love you so it's okay." Artemis rolls her eyes.
"Wow, thanks Baywatch."
"Don't mention it Blondie." Wally responds. "But really, are you okay?"
"For the one millionth time, I am one hundred percent okay." Artemis tells him, getting up and kissing his cheek to assure him. She sits next to him practically in his lap as the two of them squish into the lounge chair. Wally's arms encircle Artemis, pulling her close.
"You know you and Sportsmaster have the same last name. Maybe you two are distantly related." Artemis begins to cough. "You okay?"
"Fine, fine." She says quickly.
"You say that word a lot."
"Do I?"
"Yes, almost as much as I say food." Wally tells her with a grin. Artemis smiles, happy that he seemed to have dropped the issue entirely.
^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wally hadn't forgotten though. The look of concern on Artemis' face was etched into his mind. Later that afternoon, when she went to the archery range to teach Jason and Zatanna how to shoot an arrow since the two were interested, he went off to find Roy.
It didn't take him long to find the boy mopping the port deck. He walked up to his friend and stood besides him.
"What's up West?" Roy asks, not looking up from his mopping.
"You know Artemis' whole secret past." Wally states.
"Yes I do. I thought you were giving that whole thing a rest though, until she was willing to tell you." Roy says, stopping and leaning against the mop.
"Yeah, but I feel like something is wrong with her. I can't help her because sometimes I feel like I don't even truly know her. She'll say something and then completely shut down and be a million miles away." Wally says.
"You knew that when you started the relationship. You're not about to break up with her already are you?" Roy asks, narrowing his eyes at Wally. He violently shakes his head.
"No way. I really like her." Wally says. "I'm just frustrated. I want to be able to be there for her, but how can I if I feel like I don't even know her sometimes?"
"Wally, you're overreacting."
"Am I? You were the one who asked me to spy on her." Wally accuses. Roy winces.
"I know. I was so desperate to find out, but Wally, the truth doesn't always set you free."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I'm just saying Wally that sometimes I wish I didn't know. Sometimes I wish I could go back and slap myself and say to just accept her as she is. I'm happy that I finally got over myself and got to know her, but sometimes, I wish I was in the dark too."
"Why?"
"Because, it's hard to know. It's sucks to see just how much she struggles everyday. You guys are all blissfully unaware." Roy says.
"What? What is so bad Roy?" Wally asks, nearly shouting. "I was up half the night worrying about her. My mind came up with so many gruesome possibilities that I hope aren't true in the least. She has so many scars..." Wally trails off.
"It's not what you are thinking." Roy tells him.
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Then what is it?"
"I...I can't tell you Wally. It is not my place to tell. She will soon though. I've talked to her and she is going to soon. Just give her time." Roy urges. Wally simply nods.
"I hope you are right Roy."
With that Wally walks away.
^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^
"You sure you can't come?" Megan asks her.
"Positive." Artemis responds.
"Gonna miss you tonight Mis Mis, especially lover boy." Jason says, elbowing Wally.
"I hate that nickname Jay." Artemis responds.
"Well I love it." Jason says, before following Kaldur and Zatanna down the gangplank. Conner, Dick, and Raquel follow.
"Alright. See you tomorrow." Megan says, hurrying after them. Wally turns to Artemis.
"I can stay you know." Wally tells her. She laughs.
"It's girls night. Dinah and I are looking at wedding catalogs and watching cheesy romance movies."
"Totally your thing." Wally says leaning down to kiss her. When they pull apart he grins at her. "Seems like you are already getting this whole maid of honor thing down."
"What?" Artemis asks in confusion.
"Um...you were all concerned last night and this morning about it." Wally says. Artemis nods quickly.
"Yeah, well..." She trails off. Wow, she totally messed that up.
"Talk later?" Wally questions. She nods staring at the ground. He gently places a hand under her chin, lifting her head up. "Hey, I'll still be here. I promise." She gives a small smile.
"Tell Virgil and the others I say hi." Artemis tells him.
"Will do. Have fun with Dinah." Wally replies, walking down the gangplank to join the rest of them. Artemis watches them go, a small smile on her face and heaviness in her heart.
^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^
Wally stared at the latest headline of the newspaper in front of him. A picture of Lawrence Crock was on it. The headline read "SPORTSMASTER IN MIAMI." Below it read, "Airport worker recognizes picture of the infamous thief spotted at the airport." Yikes, Wally thought.
Dick sat across from him, talking quietly to Zatanna. The rest of their friends were out on the dance floor of the mild club, even Jason. He stared at the picture of Lawrence. His hair was the same color as Artemis'.
Slowly an idea began to form in his head. Artemis starts acting funny when this dude comes on the news, they have the same last name and hair color, and he is on his way to Miami. She never talks about her past, but he knew she left Gotham when she was twelve. He scans the article until he finds the note about the capture of his partner Huntress, eight years ago. Apparently she helped them almost find him, when Artemis would have been twelve. He would have had to flee, leaving Artemis alone.
He saw a picture of Huntress and recognized Artemis' facial features in the woman. It would make sense if they two of them had a kid together or were married. He read further to see that Sportsmaster was captured in Star City, Artemis' hometown after being relocated.
Artemis was the daughter of Sportsmaster. He stood up suddenly, drawing Zatanna and Dick's attention to him.
"Wally what's wrong?" Zatanna asks.
"I need to go back to the ship." Wally states.
"Why?" Jason asks, sliding into the booth, next to Dick. Dick gives his best friend a confused look.
"I think Artemis is in trouble." Wally passes the article to Dick.
"Um...what is going on?" Jason is asked. A window is suddenly broken. A few people scream as smoke slowly begins to engulf the club. The group gets up and begins to make a break for the door, but they pass out from the gas before they could reach the door.
^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^
An incessant knocking was what woke Artemis up the next morning. She sat up from where she had fallen asleep on the couch. Dinah was slowly waking up as well.
"I got it." Artemis says as another round of knocking commences. Artemis passes Dinah and Oliver's bedroom, not spotting Oliver inside. She didn't think much of it until she opened up a door to find a disheveled Oliver. "What's up Ollie? Did you sleep at all?"
"Artemis, Dinah, come with me up to the Watchtower. Now." Oliver says in a serious tone that Artemis had only heard a few times. The two of them follow him towards the elevator and they ride up to the Watchtower.
She spots Tye first and then Asami and the rest of them. Artemis looks at them in confusion and then she takes in the concerned looks of the adults in the room. Her heart sank.
"No."
"They're gone. All of them." Oliver tells her, putting an arm around her for support. She shakes her head vigorously.
"No. This isn't true. It can't be." Artemis says.
"I'm sorry Artemis." Virgil says, as she shakes her head again. "There was this smoke and then we woke up in the club but they...they were all gone. We came right here to see if they had come back here and the police had just missed them but..."
At that point, tears began to fall down Artemis' cheeks. Oliver hugs her close as tears stain his shirt.
"I can't believe he did this. I can't..." She trails off as she begins to sob.
^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wally's eyes slowly opened, feeling like lead weights were attached to his eyelids. He groggily looked around the dark room, spotting his seven other comrades in the room awake and pissed. He could see the fear in them as well.
"Ah, the last one awakens." A voice to his left says. A tall blonde man steps out from the darkness. Sportsmaster. Artemis' dad. "Now the fun can begin."
A/N: So what did you guys think? Sorry that it's a little short. I really wanted to get this posted today in honor of the SMGO TV meeting and because I missed you guys:) Sorry for the cliffhanger. Hopefully the next chapter will be up tomorrow. Peace.