All things must come to an end, and here is the final chapter of this story. I'm so excited to have finished my fist fanfic! Thanks for your support! Hope you like it!
The team was standing around; mouths wide open, gaping at us. Wally was standing directly in front of me, with his flash cowl down. He had a fist in his mouth, his face almost as red as his hair as he tried to figure out what happened.
"Um…" Mal said, trying to wrap his head around this.
I rocked back on my heels, trying to stop smiling. If only I had bought a camera, their expressions were priceless!
"So, I'm guessing we should try to explain," Nightwing said, amusement colouring his voice.
"You think?" Batgirl snapped.
Nightwing looked at me, and I took a deep breath, ready to explain.
"We-"
"Roy! What the hell are you wearing?" Green Arrow yelled, cutting me off. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd, laughing at the uncomfortable looking Roy in a blonde wig and Green Arrow outfit.
The whole league (except Batman) cracked a smile, some trying very hard not to burst out laughing at Roy. He looked pretty good as Green Arrow, but the fact that it was Roy, made everything funnier.
"Wait a second, Conner, did you beef up or what?" Superman asked, eyeing the clone in the Superman costume.
"Cassie!" Wonder Woman shrieked, finally getting a good look at Wonder Girl, "Great Hera, what did you stuff down your top?"
At this, the whole league turned to look at their protégées, laughing when they realised they had dressed up like them. For the next few minutes, there were plenty of yelps of astonishment, and lots of laughing.
"I guess your plan worked," I told Wally as his hair was being messed up by a laughing Flash.
Wally gave me a stiff middle finger.
"I have a feeling we should compare notes," Batman's voice floated across the room.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention towards him and his Bat-family.
"Nightwing, start with your team."
"As soon as we heard the Justice League was missing we arranged a plan to make it look like the League was still there, which included dressing up as our mentors." Nightwing stated.
"My plan!" Wally called out, pointing towards himself while the rest of the team rolled their eyes.
"Of course. Only someone like the Flash or Kid Flash would think of a plan like that," Black Canary said, laughing, while both Flashes stuck their tongue out at her.
"Huntress, Red Hood and I then travelled to Bludhaven, where, with the help of Red Hood's friend, we managed to travel into the dimension where we rescued the League," Nightwing finished, summing it up in a concise way.
"Who's Red Hood?" Flash asked.
Nightwing and I both turned our heads towards the back, where Jason was lurking around in the corner. Batman's mouth turned into a hard line. Tim visibly paled and let out a small whimper while Barbra stepped in front of him protectively.
"What's he doing here?" she growled.
"Who is he?" Flash asked again.
"A hero." I said quietly. Jason's head snapped up, and he looked at me carefully.
"Do you remember the Robin… who… who died?" Nightwing asked carefully.
"No way. He's dead!" Wally yelled out.
"Not anymore. He's alive and yes, he just saved the League's butt," Jason growled.
The team and the League looked shocked, staring at Jason.
"Um… How?" Roy asked, confused.
"Let's just say Ra's Al Ghuls' lazarus pit works wonders, okay?" Jason smirked.
The room was silent, trying to digest this information.
"Oh. Then what happened to the League?" Zatanna asked, breaking us from our silence. Nightwing looked at her gratefully.
"As soon as we arrived at the Watchtower we were submerged in one of Klarion's transportation spells. We woke up, tied up in various ways so we would not be able to escape using our powers. We were being tested on by the Light and their partner," Batman said gravely.
"So, what do we do now?" I asked.
Nightwing smiled at me, "Same as always. We go home, take a shower, and then, if needed, kick some bad guy butt."
The team cheered, ready to go home, when Martian Manhunter cut in.
"I do believe, when something good has happened, it is within Earth custom to, party," he said, smiling.
The room cheered once more.
The party was going great, everyone eager to hear stories about what each other had done. I retold my story over a dozen times to the League, and now was listening in to how Wally had to calm a very irate Iris when she wanted the Flash to do some things with her.
It was great and all, everything finally felt normal (well, as normal as it would ever get) but I couldn't help letting my eyes wonder to the three sombre figures in the party; Jason, Dick and Batman.
They looked like they were having a pretty intense discussion. Batman was standing rigidly, like he always does when he's extremely pissed off. Dick had his hands crossed over his chest, looking sincerely uncomfortable. Jason was the most animated, gesturing wildly, and I could almost feel the anger rolling off him.
Once again, I questioned myself, as to which one of them I really liked. They were both so similar, yet so different. I loved both of them, but I needed one, way more than I needed the other.
I saw Jason storm off, and before I even knew what was happening I was running after him, telling him to slow down. Jason walked off towards the gym, and I followed, putting my arm out to stop him.
"Jason," I said.
Suddenly, he pulled my arm behind me and slammed me into the wall. I felt pain explode in my back, but I ignored it.
"Artemis, you have to answer me," he said, leaning in so close our noses were almost touching.
"Who do you love, me or Dick?" he said.
I closed my eyes, steadying myself. As much as I wanted both of them, forever, I knew I had to choose.
My hand ghosted up to his face, tracing his cheekbone.
"I loved you, once."
"But not now?"
"Not in the way you love me. Jason, you're not what I need. I don't need a snarky, violent person, I already am a snarky, violent person. I need someone to help me, to always know the right from wrong. I need someone like… Dick. Only he can save me from myself. You're too much like me, and I can't, we can't, survive something like that," I said, so softly I could barely hear myself.
Jason closed his eyes and pulled away, my hand falling from my face.
"I expected that. And somehow, I knew we would never work out. I just chose to ignore it," he said, his voice raw and sincere, all the barriers he put up gone.
Quickly, he lent down and kissed me fiercely. His hands were in my air, and at first I was so shocked I didn't react. Then, when I realised, I pushed him away, hard.
"What the hell is wrong with you? I tell you I love Nightwing, and then you go and kiss me?" I yelled at him.
Jason laughed, pulling the red hood over his face again.
"I knew you belonged with Nightwing. You're a hero Arty, and heroes deserve other heroes. Now excuse me while I go do some vigilante work in Bludhaven."
I laughed, despite myself, "Hey!" I called out after him, "if you continue to do that 'vigilante' work, I'm going to have to hunt you down. You know that, right?"
He turned around, giving me a little wave, "Puh-lease. You have to catch me first."
And with that, Jason, Red Hood, slipped out of the cave through the zeta-beam.
The party had heated up since I'd left, due to the departure of the 'little' ones and the arrival of alcohol. I laughed to see Wally and Barry try to outdo each other in a drinking game. Ollie and Dinah had disappeared (I do not want to know where) and Batman of course, wasn't drinking.
"Hey, care to step outside with me?" Dick asked, leaning in close so I could hear him.
We stepped out onto the large balcony. The night was freezing, so we were pretty much alone. Dick was standing close to me, looking over the top of my head.
"So, the parties pretty asterous," he said.
I laughed, Dick hadn't said asterous or traught in a very long time.
"I feel sorry for the people who have to take Barry and Wally home,"
"Knowing my luck, it would probably me," Dick said.
We were silent for a moment, and I rested my head on Dick's chest.
"I heard you and Jason talking tonight," he said.
I jumped back in shock, my face heating up.
"Not all of it?" I asked hopefully.
"Every little bit," he answered, smirking.
"Great," I groaned, feeling like slapping myself in the head.
"So, you need me, huh? I'm like you're knight in shining armour."
"More like my knight in skin tight spandex. Get over yourself, Grayson."
"Who would've thought? Tough little Artemis really just needs the amazing Nightwing to make her feel safe,"
"God, I just fed your ego, didn't I?"
"You better believe it," he said, and wrapped me in a tight hug, kissing me gently on the mouth. I leaned into him, loving the feeling of him.
"You know Artemis, I love you too," he said softly, and I smiled back at him.
"And plus, I got good blackmail material," he added.
"Wait, what!?"
"I might have been recording your conversation. I was thinking of playing it to the team. Or just replaying it whenever you're mad."
"Dick! You stupid idiot! Give me the tape!" I yelled, lunging for him.
He stuck his tongue out at me and I chased him, dodging hordes of drunken leaguers. I had to get my hands on that tape. And I had to get my hands on Nightwing too.
Okay, it was a horrible ending, but I did tie everything up! Thank you for reading, reviewing and following! I'll be writing a prequel to this soon, something about Artemis's change from Artemis to Huntress.
Please, leave suggestions of things you would like to see, or read about.
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