A/N: Hello! Lia here! I don't have much to say, just wanted to say hi. Hope everyone is having a good day. Please read the author's note below. Warning, high T this chapter for Character death.

Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. Young. Justice. Period.

Conclusions

Was it really over? Artemis let out a breath that she hadn't known she was holding until she heard an anguished cry and she quickly inhaled another breath. She ran over to the edge of the roof to see her father holding onto a beam over the edge of the water. If he fell from this height, the water would feel like cement and he would surely die. Unsure why she did what she did next, she leaned over and extended her hand.

"Take my hand." Artemis orders. His mask was off and the face she saw was not Sportsmaster's, but her father. And despite all the hell that he had put her through, hurting her friends, threatening her real family, he was still her father. She could hate him all she wanted, but she couldn't just sit back and let him fall to his death. She would prefer to have him rotting away in a jail cell.

"No, I don't need your help baby girl." He spits out, struggling to hold on to the slippery plastic.

"This is stupid, just take my hand." Artemis demands. From the deck, she could hear commotion.

"Oh my God!" She hears Megan shout.

"I would rather die." Lawrence tells her.

"You're about to, just take it." Artemis shouts.

"I won't. Have fun living the life of the rich and famous while it lasts baby girl." A hand slips off of the pole. "You're not suited for it. Your weak, disgusting, unlovable..." his second hand slips.

Artemis watches in horror as Lawrence Crock begins to fall the several stories to the water. Before she could see him hit the water, a hand was covering her eyes and pulling her towards them. She caught a peak of familiar red hair before she was crushed into his chest. She heard a big splat.

"It's over Artemis." Wally whispers quietly. That was when it finally hit her. No more running, no more fear, no more worry, it was over. She was free. She wrapped her arms around Wally, taking in the familiar warmth. She was free.

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Wally helped her climb down from the roof since the injuries from her fight with Sportsmaster were beginning to show. She gingerly climbed down, wincing as something hit a tender spot on her arm from where she had been hit with the hammer.

She stumbled slightly, but strong arms were there to catch her. She spun around to see Oliver, tears in his eyes. She may or may not have started to tear up as well.

"Hey dad." She said quietly. He pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. She ignored the burning of her injuries and returned the hug.

"I missed you so much Artemis." He whispers quietly, refusing to let her go.

"I missed you too." She replies. Finally he releases her, and she hugs Dinah and Roy before being pummeled by Megan and Zatanna again.

"You guys already hugged me." Artemis says laughing.

"I missed you." Megan replies.

"Me too." Zatanna replies. The two of them step away.

"We all did." Kaldur says with a smile. Artemis looked around at the people surrounding her. They loved her and she loved them. Her father was wrong. She belonged with them.

Wally wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him. He kissed her cheek, despite the look of disapproval from Oliver. Neither of them really cared as they grinned widely. Everything was finally going right.

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The nine teenagers sat in the Cave the next day. Bruce had given them the day off so none of them had to deal with the onslaught of passengers coming on board. They had all had a late night, staying up until Artemis was all bandaged up. Artemis laughed along with her friends as Conner's face turned bright red.

"It wasn't that funny." He grumbles, crossing his hands across his chest.

"Dude, that girl like attacked you." Wally states, still laughing.

"I'm your girlfriend, I even I find it quite funny." Megan says.

"I can't believe that some thirteen year old girl followed you around everywhere for a week. God, I wish I could have seen the look on your face when she tried to kiss you." Artemis says, laughing. "Please tell me you have pictures Dick."

"Maybe I do." Dick says deviously. "Maybe I don't."
"You better not." Conner says, glaring at the shorter boy.

"I do. I'll show you later." Zatanna tells her friend. The others all look at her. "What? He is my boyfriend. I've picked up a few things."

"I have one too." Jason adds. "I guess the whole brother thing is rubbing off on me."

Conner groans and leans back in his chair. "I thought it was bad with just one of them, now there are three."

"And it could grow." Dick says with a devious look.

"What?" Raquel asks, pulling her hand out of Kaldur's in shock.

"Well Babs is coming later today. And you never know, maybe Bruce will adopt again in the future. Or have his own child." Dick says shrugging. Megan, Conner, Kaldur, Wally, Artemis, and Raquel all groan.

"Soon they will outnumber us." Artemis says.

"And then we will never escape our most embarrassing moments because they will always be one of them around when it happens." Kaldur sighs sadly.

"It's going to be great." Jason states. The six glare at him, but he simply shrugs and laughs.

"Remind me why I am friends with you guys again?" Artemis asks.

"Oh get over yourself, you know you love me." Jason teases.

"You hitting on my girlfriend Todd?" Wally asks, good naturally.

"Maybe, maybe not." Jason taunts. Artemis rolls her eyes and reaches across the table to where he sat to give him a good punch in the shoulder. "I'm just kidding 'Mis."

Artemis leans back in her chair. Wally reached out his arm, resting it along the back of her chair. The two of them smile at each other.

"You guys are just to cute." Megan gushes. They look away from each other to their red haired friend across the table.

"Thanks?" Artemis asks.

"It was a compliment." Megan assures her. Raquel had been watching them all quietly, a large smile on her face.

"What's got you so happy Raquel?" Wally asks.

"Everyone's back together and everyone is happy again. The sun is shining and we are about to head off to another tropical place. I am living the dream with people who I can call true friends. Everything is perfect." Raquel says with a smile, wrapping her hand in Kaldur's. He smiles at her and kisses her cheek.

"Raquel is correct. Everything is...perfect." Kaldur affirms.

"I'll drink to that." Dick proclaims, holding up his cup of lemonade. Everyone follows suit, knocking his or her cups against each other's, smiling and laughing.

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Roy notched an arrow and released it. He didn't have much to do. Nobody was coming into the archery range and his classes didn't start until tomorrow. He had already finished his shift of helping people carry bags and find their rooms. He just did what he always did, practiced archery.

The familiar touch of the bow and the sound the string makes when he released his arrow has always been a comfort to him. He took a deep breath, notching another arrow and released. It was a bulls-eye. For a moment, he remembered the day he found Artemis in here shooting bulls-eye after bulls-eye. He took a deep breath, notched an arrow, closed his eyes, and then he was tapped on his shoulder. His arrow went wide, but he didn't care.

"Jade?" He questions spinning around. But instead of black hair, he found blonde.

"Sorry, wrong Crock." Artemis responds, good naturally. Roy sagged, sitting down on a bench. Artemis takes a seat besides him. "Sorry to disappoint you Carrot top."

"You boyfriend's a ginger, why don't you call him that?" Roy grumbles.

"I already have nicknames for Kid Idiot." Artemis responds. Her smile and laughter fades away though and she looks at him seriously. "Are you okay Roy?"

"I'm fine." He responds curtly. "You were right about Jade though. She's selfish and only cares for herself."

"You got the selfish thing right, but I don't think she only cares for herself." Artemis says.

"Really? I would think you would agree wholeheartedly on me." Roy responds surprised.

"The selfish thing, definitely. But the fact that she even risked telling you that Sportsmaster and I were in town, that makes me think that she does at least care for me a little. And you." Artemis says.

"Me?"

"Yeah. She's shown her face to you what...twice?"

"Three times."

"Exactly. She's definitely taken a liking to you and your mood swings." Artemis teases him.

"Shut up." He says, elbowing her with a smile. She elbows him right back.

"I think she is scared too."

"Scared? Jade?" Roy questions.

"Yeah. Our father was always really harsh on her. She took the brunt of the insults for me when I was young. And as much as she tried to hide it from me, it hurt her. That's why she didn't come to help, her fear of him. Now that he is finally..." Artemis paused for a second. "Dead, maybe she'll come back."

"I doubt that, Jade is probably long gone now. She disappeared just like..."

"The Cheshire cat." Artemis finishes for him. Roy looks over at her. "Jade would always read that to me when our parents fought."

Roy nods. "Anyway you put it, she's long gone by now."

"Maybe we can find her." Artemis suggests.

"Weren't you the one who said that you can only find her if she wants to be found?" Roy questions.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't hurt to try. You obviously like her."

"No I don't." Artemis gives him a look. "So what if I do?"

"Well, it's a little weird, but I approve if it makes you both happy. These past three months, they've made me realize just how important being loved is and how important family and friends are. Jade is my sister, she deserves to be happy and I think she could be happy here."

"On the boat?"

"Maybe, or just with us. You, me, the rest of them. I'm going to try to find her." Artemis states.

"You know what, I am too." Roy replies. The two of them smile at each other.

"So where's Wally? I would think the boy wouldn't leave your side for at least another week." Roy states.

"Oliver is having a "talk" with him." Artemis says, laughing.

"I'm guessing you didn't do anything to stop it?"

"Nope. This could be interesting."

"Definitely." The two siblings stayed in the archery range for a long time that day, catching up and hanging out, making promises that hopefully they could keep.

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Hundreds of miles away, a girl with black hair sat alone on a bus, a hat covering her eyes. The bus rumbled out of a station and the girl's travels continued. She didn't know where she was going, but anywhere but where she had come from would be fine with her. Escape; run, just like she always did. She sighed and stared out of the window, and for a second she imagined what her life could be like at that moment if she had stayed.

She quickly shook the thoughts out of her head. There was no point in dreaming of what could have been. She stared blankly out the window as the bus rumbled along the roads through nameless cities and towns.

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"I can't believe you have a picture of us?" Artemis exclaims, looking at the picture on Dick's phone. It was of the two of them asleep in each other's arms.

"You guys feel asleep while we were hanging out up here, couldn't resist." Dick responds with a grin.

"It's a cute picture." Raquel offers.

"I feel like this breaks some sort of law." Barbara states.

"Oh lighten up, it's harmless fun." Jason says.

The ten of them sat in a semi circle, looking out at the moonlight reflecting in the ocean. They had left port right around dinnertime and were now off to their next location. Barbara had arrived on the boat, immediately dropping her bags and hugging Artemis tight.

Artemis stared out at the ocean quietly. She had only been back for twenty-four hours but it felt as if nothing had changed. But something had changed. They knew, and they didn't care. They didn't pity her. Artemis thought with sadness about how scared she had been to tell them. Looking back, Artemis felt stupid for not just telling them from the beginning. Her father's dying words were not true. She is loved.

"Hey, you alright?" Wally asks her softly, wrapping his arms around her. The others were locked in a heated discussion.

"I'm fine."

"You looked lost for a second back there."

"I just...I feel stupid for not telling you guys the truth in the first place."

Wally kisses her cheek and smiles. "You going soft on me now Blondie?"

"In your dreams Baywatch." Artemis replies, rolling her eyes.

"You had your reasons then and they were plausible. I was a jerk to you at first, why would you tell me your darkest secret? But you've never been your family and you never will be. You earned your place here and sure it would have been nice to know sooner, but it doesn't change anything. You're still an annoying harpy who I kind of somewhat love."

Artemis laughs. "I kind of somewhat love you too."

The two of them kiss then; despite the looks their friends were giving them. Later when they got into an argument, that ended with the two of them kissing again, their friends gave them the same look. But they also exchanged knowing looks with each other.

Everything was exactly how it should be.

A/N: Next chapter will be an epilogue and it should be up by Friday. Thank you all for reading this story. I will have some shoutouts and more thanks in the epilogue, but all your reviews, likes, follows, and just reading this story have meant so much to me. And before I get a million questions about Jade, I left the part open because I think I might do a sequel some time in the future called Finding Jade or something like that and it would be a year or two in the future and focus on Roy, Artemis, and the gang trying to locate Jade. Would you guys want something like that? It won't be immediately in the future, I do want to take a break from this storyline and try something new out, but it would happen eventually.

Tell me your thoughts about this chapter, the story in general, my idea for a sequel, anything. Thank you all so much for reading. Peace.