Disclaimer: Young Justice is owned by DC Comics, Warner Bros., and a certain 20-year-old programming channel who may not live to see 21 if they don't bring back Young Justice soon.
Chapter 8: The Choice
The school bell was Wally's starter's pistol. The second he heard the shrill vibrating tones that signaled lunch, he was off. Out of school, out of the state, and into the wilderness. Scenery flashed by him in one collective blend of color and sound, and in the moment he let out a whoop of joy. As far as he was concerned, school was out and his job – his real job – was about to begin.
And today was his turn to visit Artemis.
The Cave was deserted when he arrived. Robin, Conner, and M'gann were still at school, Kaldur was in Atlantis, and Red Tornado was probably lurking out of sight in his ceiling room like some giant red robotic owl.
Wally checked the time. Still ten minutes until noon. He bustled around the kitchen, removing jars of mayo and pickles, packages of cold cuts, and a long loaf of bread. No point in waiting on an empty stomach.
As he built his skyscraper of a sandwich, he found himself strategizing his entrance. When was the best time to go in the room, a little early to catch her off-guard? Casually like last time with a little air of indifference? A big smile on his face from the start? No, too obvious. Would it put her at ease if he acted hostile like he used to? No, that aspect of their relationship needed to change.
Wally sighed. Liking someone the way he liked Artemis was hard work. He had only recently come to terms with these feelings. There had simply been no point in denying it anymore. She filled up his thoughts until he wanted to scrub his brain clean just to think about something – anything – else. It was more than a vapid fascination with her looks, which he had experienced time and time again. It was a deep infatuation with her intellect, her personality, her ethics, her fire. It was the way she called him on his shit one day and the way she pretended she wasn't laughing at his stupid jokes the next.
To him, Artemis was something burning and bright, like a firework they were trying to keep in a box. But to her? He was just one of her jailers. An annoying little kid with a bad temper and a big appetite. She couldn't possibly feel the same way. Could she?
Wally waved the depressing thoughts away. This wasn't the time to dwell on his little emotional civil war. They needed an answer from Artemis soon or…
Recognized: Green Arrow. 08.
Recognized: Black Canary. 13.
Wally whipped around, nearly knocking a jar of mayonnaise off the counter. What were they doing here?
"Hey there, Wally!" Green Arrow's jovial voice boomed. He strode casually into the kitchen with Black Canary at his side. They appeared friendly enough, but this couldn't be a social visit.
"What's up?" Wally asked. "We don't have training today, do we?"
"Not today," she replied. Her face was a mask of serene calm, but he knew their combat instructor better than to interpret her tone as anything over than serious. "We're here for Artemis."
At once his hands clenched defensively. "Why do you need to see her?"
Green Arrow put a firm hand on his shoulder. "It's time, Wally."
Wally's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. "But the deadline's not for another three days! We still have time to –"
"This plan of Cheshire's has gotten out of hand. The League needs an answer. We can't afford to keep her around without if she has no intention of helping us."
"Unless you have some insight on the subject that would help?" Black Canary added quickly.
This was a difficult question for many reasons. One being that he couldn't answer truthfully without spilling his romantic guts to Black Canary, and another being that he was supposed to be on record as hating Artemis's guts. Though at the moment the only gut he wanted to care about was currently rumbling for food. He decided to play it cool and took a large bit of his sandwich. Stuffing his face ought to do the trick. When did it not?
"I don't know if I'm the best person to ask since I spent a while holding a pretty serious grudge…" he said with a nonchalant air.
"Oh yeah, we heard she kicked you in the face."
He twitched a bit at that. "But you shouldn't take it from me. Talk to her before you decide anything. Just…give her that."
"Of course we will, Wally," Black Canary said kindly.
"Quick question," Green Arrow raised a finger and eyed Wally up and down. "Do you always wear civvies in front of her like this?"
A thick clump of tomato, lettuce, and turkey nearly lodged itself in Wally's throat. He coughed several times and took a large swallow of milk. The mixture slid down thickly and he was left with the taste of guilt in his mouth. They hadn't exactly cleared his new "being nice to Artemis" strategy with their mentors.
Wally thumped his chest a few times. "No! Okay, sometimes. Not all the time. Today I just came from school so…" he trailed off guiltily.
Black Canary raised an eyebrow. "She knows you're in school?"
"…Is that bad?"
The couple exchanged a look. "I suppose not. Well, we're ready to see her now, if that's okay," said Black Canary, her blue eyes twinkling.
"Sure, yeah, just take a right over there, it's the first door you see. Look for the giant observation window thingy." Wally pointed them towards the cell room.
An iron knot twisted around in Wally's stomach as he watched Green Arrow and Black Canary stride away with a sense of purpose. They were clearly still operating under the assumption that she could turn on them at any second. Would this conversation convince them of that or change their minds entirely? He clutched his abdomen as though trying to soothe the butterflies playing a samba rhythm in the pit of his stomach, and slid his sandwich into the fridge. His stomach growled in protest, but its complaints would be in vain.
He was too nervous to eat. And that was never a good sign.
Over the past few days, Artemis had been experiencing the strangest sensations. She started sleeping soundly at night and waking up at her leisure in the morning. The team's daily visits had become a choreographed routine that she had actually begun to anticipate, mostly for lack of any other contact, but the team made great pains to make their conversations somewhat interesting.
Once, Red Tornado had brought her breakfast when the super teens were busy. The humanoid strode creakily into the room, deposited the tray, and stood by the door like a big brooding red statue. That is, if robots were capable of brooding. In any case, the silence was heavy.
Artemis twirled a plastic fork between her fingers. "So…do you have any inspiring words of wisdom for me?"
He – it? – turned to face her and said in a low mechanical tone, "No."
"Nothing? Not even a little speech?"
"No."
"What about a story of how someone you know in my situation turned their life around and has never been happier?"
"No."
"How about -?"
"NO," he had thundered with a note of absolute finality.
It had been awkward after that.
But that afternoon was Kid Flash aka Wally West's turn and for once she was looking forward to it. Since discovering his alter ego identity courtesy of a book, she had prepared several jokes in preparation for his next visit. Two were scathing, one was legitimately funny, another was a pun, and all of them insulted his intelligence.
She had even taken to calling him Wally in her head, mostly for the entertainment value. Seriously, what kind of name is Wally? It had to be short for Wallace, in which case his life was twice as unfortunate as she'd thought.
Artemis bided her time flipping through the wrinkled pages. Every once in a while there would be a disjointed note scribbled hastily in the margins. One of them read, "symbolism?" and another, "This probably means something." She stifled a giggle. He had circled an entire page several times and written "SCIENTIFICALLY INACCURATE" in large indignant letters.
The door slid open with its familiar whir. Excellent, she thought.
Artemis whipped around with a premature grin of triumph on her face and promptly dropped the book as though it had burst into flames. Standing in the doorway were none other than Green Arrow and Black Canary. Actual League members, minus the brief encounter with Red Tornado, never came to call on her, much less one who had been her childhood hero.
Green Arrow looked a bit older, a bit haggard, and a lot more relaxed than the spry, rugged figure she had grown up watching every morning on TV. He was the reason she had chosen archery as her main concentration among the other skills Sportsmaster had taught her.
But now was not the time for gawking. They weren't the young sidekicks she had formed something of a bond with over the past few weeks. They were adults, dedicated fighters of evil and protectors of global safety. What could they possibly want with her?
She watched the heroes warily from her bed. Black Canary was the first to greet her with a kind smile.
"Please, sit," She gestured calmly to Artemis's usual armchair.
The rusting evil side of her had an impulse not to comply, but there wasn't any reason not to sit and have a nice chat with two of the strongest people in League history. No pressure. None whatsoever.
She swallowed, hoping to mask her nerves with a little false confidence. "Wow, Green Arrow and Black Canary in my humble little cell. What's the occasion? I thought it was Kid Moron's turn today."
Black Canary taps a manicured finger on her cheek, "Interesting that you were anticipating him. Getting along better with the team?"
She shrugged, mentally kicking herself for saying anything. These days speaking comfortably with the team have made her soft. "More like I don't consider them a threat and have resigned myself to my fate," she said.
"Your fate?"
She nodded. "Death by small talk."
Green Arrow sniggered and was silenced by a single look from Black Canary. Artemis flushed slightly. I just made my childhood hero laugh with a dumb joke, she thought. Nothing cool about that. Nothing at all.
Green Arrow cleared his throat. "In any case, we're glad you're seem to be getting along. It's actually surprising. Based on what we've seen from our extensive research on you…"
"Extensive?" Artemis sat up rigid as a board. "How extensive exactly?"
Sensing he had let too much slip, the green hooded hero shifted uncomfortably, pointedly ignoring Black Canary's glare. "Well, we had to be sure you were unaware of – I mean, we – the League, that is – wanted to prove that your loyalties were, in fact, flimsy."
Artemis frowned. "There was nothing 'flimsy' about my work for the Shadows. I did what I was told."
"We know. But following orders and believing in them are two very different things. There are plenty of people who do…unsavory work simply because they have no other course open to them."
And now I sound like a prostitute, Artemis thought.
Black Canary took the helm at this point. "You're not the only one who came with a troubled past," she said. "In fact, there isn't a single member of this team who didn't with more than a little baggage."
She found that hard to believe. Sure, Aqualad and Superboy had the emotional responses of a couple of boulders so it wasn't far-fetched, and Robin was protégé to the great big brooding terror of the night so clearly something had to be wrong with him. But the other two?
"Really? What about Kid Flash? And Miss Martian? They both seem a bit too cheery for their own good."
Black Canary's eyes were filled with sympathy. "Well, I can't speak for either of them, but in Miss Martian's case I would imagine being an alien and living in a society that hasn't fully accepted them yet would be hard for anyone," she said.
Artemis's eyes dropped to the floor. She had never considered that.
"As for Kid Flash…it's not for me to say. But I'm sure he'd tell you if you asked nicely."
She snorted with derision. "Yeah, while I'm at it we can make best friend necklaces and braid each other's hair. Kid Flash and I don't exactly get along. Or was that not in your 'extensive' research?"
"No, no, we noticed." Green Arrow raised both hands in a defensive pose. She immediately felt her hackles lower. Offending him felt a lot like beating up children.
Black Canary, however, sat forward and propped her elbow on one fishnet-covered knee, her eyes shrewdly examining Artemis with interest. "I can't help but notice a trend here. You seem especially worried about Kid Flash and his opinions."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. Just that you might be in denial about a few things. Including the idea of joining their team."
"Look, it's not about whether or not I want to join the junior Justice League and fight for all things nice and fluffy, okay?" Artemis nearly snapped. She restrained her tone in fear of being on the receiving end of a canary cry. "I'm not in denial," she said quietly. "I'm just realistic about my situation. And the reality is that no matter what happens there's no way I can go back to my old life."
"Meaning you've given up on the Shadows?"
"Meaning the Shadows have given up on me. And I don't blame them."
Black Canary gave her a sympathetic look and placed a hand on Artemis's chair, near her hand. "Artemis…I know you've had a lot to deal with these past few weeks, and I know it must be hard. But please understand that we only want to help. We've helped plenty of kids in your position –"
"I'm not a kid."
"No, you're right. You're a strong, grown young woman," the older woman said with a hint of righteous passion. "One who's had to deal with more hardships and cruelties than any other girl your age could ever understand. What we're offering is a place with people who understand. Who feel the same way. Somewhere you'll never be truly alone. For now, don't worry about what the future might hold, just answer this. What do you want?"
Artemis cast a cautious glance at Dinah's outstretched hand and then at Green Arrow, who gave her a warm smile. A small chill ran through her spine. Back in the day, before Lawrence raised her for a life of crime, she used to watch Green Arrow on TV and pretend to shoot arrows with chopsticks and rubber bands around the apartment. It used to drive her mother up the wall. Being faced with those memories of a brighter time and with the difficult truth that she'd been struggling with all this time was overwhelming.
As though on cue to interrupt her mood, Kid Flash burst into the room. He was practically out of breath and flustered, but straightened up when he saw them sitting there.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said politely, barely making eye contact with Artemis. "GA, Black Canary, Batman's calling for you. Emergency meeting."
Black Canary stood at once. "We're on our way." Before leaving she patted Artemis's hand softly and said in a low tone, "Think about it, okay?"
Artemis briefly twitched her head in a motion that couldn't be taken for either a nod or shake. When they were gone, she drew her knees up to her chest and stared off into space. She didn't even notice that Kid Flash – or rather, Wally – had hung back in the doorway until he spoke.
"So, uh, what'd you guys talk about?"
She shrugged. "Not much."
"But, uh, did they ask you whether or not you wanted to…you know…" He made a wide, inexplicable gesture.
"To join the team?" she translated. "Yeah, they asked."
There was a pause in which he stared at her expectantly. His body was pitched forward slightly like a diver looking off the edge of a springboard. When she still didn't answer he prompted, "And?"
"And that was it. You came in before I could answer."
Wally looked ready to punch himself. In fact, he looked so frustrated with himself that it was almost…well…cute.
And it was perhaps that thought which drove her to say, "Hey, could I ask you something?"
To her surprise, he glanced quickly out into the hallway, closed the door, and took the vacated seat in front of her. "Sure thing, what's up?"
Something about his casual eagerness felt downright unsettling. He had changed the way he talked to her that was certain. "Well, um," she started, unsure to phrase her thoughts. "When we were talking, Black Canary told me I wasn't the only one around with a, um, rough background. She mentioned you all had some pretty heavy baggage. Is that true?"
He hesitated, clearly judging how specific he was allowed to be. "She's not wrong," he admitted. "I mean, even with powers, we're only human. Most of us," he hastily corrected. "For people like us, being different isn't always what it's chocked up to be. It can be tough."
"Even for you?"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, I mean, it's got to make life a bit more convenient, right? Having super speed?"
Wally bit his lip, brows snaking together in concern. "I guess if I ever have a craving for baguettes it's not so hard to zip to France and back. But why do you ask?"
She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "You all know my secrets. Seems only fair I know a few."
"Except you're still technically our hostage so you're not in the position to know any secrets," he pointed out. Blunt as always.
"Fine, I was just curious. So sue me," she grumbled. "Is it so wrong to wonder how the other half lives?"
"No, I guess not," he said distractedly wringing his hands. "It's just…hard to explain.
Artemis wondered for a moment if she had stepped on an emotional land mine or something. She had never seen Wally look so hesitant. Yet, to her surprise, he spoke anyway.
"Look, uh…right, do you know how the Flash got his powers?"
Artemis thought for a moment, recalling her training. She had read up on all members of the Justice League, but never felt the need to apply her knowledge. She had never actually faced them in combat, only viewed them from afar. "Based on brief encounters and what my dad's told me neither of you were born with the ability to run at the speed of light in spandex. You both get it from some kind of extra-dimensional energy that alters your molecular structure allowing you to take in kinetic energy and break the sound barrier. It's pure science. Or so I assume."
Wally stared at her slack-jawed for a moment as though she had just thrown her bra at him. "Y-yeah, that's basically it. Point is, like you said, we weren't born with it. The difference is that his speed was brought on by accident; mine was on purpose. I sort of re-created the Flash's powers in my garage."
Though there was the faintest hint of pride in his voice, he didn't sound very excited about it. Artemis didn't understand why not. Even she had to admit it sounded like an impressive accomplishment.
"And you've been the Flash's protégé ever since?" she asked.
He sighed and scratched his head, thinking. "See, that's the complicated part. I ended up with Flash's super speed, but not before that one teensy experiment almost got me killed." He gave a wry, humorless laugh. "My work literally exploded in my face. After getting out of the hospital it took weeks of persuasion for my parents to even let me out of the house, let alone become a costumed superhero." She noticed his hands, which were clasped on his lap, tightened slightly. "And even after all that I'll never hold a candle to the original. My powers aren't just incomplete. Compared to him, they're artificial."
Artemis didn't know what to say. Some kind of warm, frothing feeling had welled up inside of her listening to his story. It was so out of place and unnatural that she just wanted to squash it down, but her eyes betrayed her sympathy for the young speedster.
He noticed her expression and gave a short embarrassed laugh. "Damn, why am I even saying this?"
Her heart pained not just for Wally – thought he did seem to fill up the majority – but for all those dumb sidekicks she'd written off without a second thought. There was no reason heroes didn't have it worse than villains, despite their life choices.
"I don't know why you think your abilities are artificial, but…" she took a breath. "But as long as your desire to help people is genuine, isn't that what matters?"
With that her memories took hold once more. Back to the night she had made the most drastic mistake in her joke of a villain career. What Sportsmaster hadn't noticed, the secret she'd die to protect before telling him, was that it hadn't been a mistake.
Artemis had been perched on a rooftop as per usual, watching the proceedings without much interest. She couldn't even remember whom they were fighting or why, and at the time it didn't matter. When the Shadows say jump, you leap.
What she did remember was a little girl. Standing in the crowd. She couldn't have been more than nine years old with long loose blonde hair, so similar to the way Artemis had worn her own as a child. The girl's father - a bumbling man with a goatee holding a camera aloft - had hurried her off to the side and, like any other idiot reporter, rushed forward to capture the scene while the girl wailed for him to come back.
For a moment, Artemis saw herself reflected in that girl. But more importantly she saw the airborne car hurtling towards them in the distance. That was when her instincts kicked in. She shot an arrow so that it stuck fast in the ground before the man's feet, making him skid to a stop. When he lifted his head to find the source he saw the car and managed to dive out of the way just in time before being crushed under a heap of scorched metal.
Artemis had let out a long exhale, relief washing through her, when her eye caught the child's gaze. Training had taught her better than to stand there, stuck fast like her arrow, and stare back. The Shadows had a rule for this. W hen noticed by civilians, take preventive measures. Eliminate all witnesses.
But she couldn't. She was forced to stand there, still as a statue, and watch the little blonde girl mouth two words. "Thank you."
No one had ever thanked her before. Not like that.
"Thanks."
Artemis's head snapped up she almost got whiplash. For a split second she wondered if the mind reading was included in the speedster's arsenal of powers.
"What?"
"Uh, thanks. For what you said. That was…" he leaned forward to speak under his breath. Artemis leaned backwards slightly in tandem, suddenly uncomfortable with his closeness. "That was surprisingly cool of you."
"Apparently I'm full of surprises," she muttered more to herself than him.
Wally opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Then opened it again. Then shook his head and closed it again. It was frustrating to watch.
His hand flew through the mess of red hair. It seemed to be a frequent habit that popped up whenever words failed him or, in this case, when he was embarrassed.
"Crap, this probably sounds a lot better in my head than out loud, but here goes. I need to explain something before I say…what I'm about to say. So that there are no misunderstandings. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Good. First off, you have never been my favorite person in the world. In fact, there was a time when I didn't like you. At all."
That was not where she thought the conversation was going. "Hasn't this already been established?"
"And I was never a fan of this plan to get you on the team," he spoke over her words. "But, now that we've had a few of these 'interrogation sessions,'" he mimed finger quotes around the last two words. "I've gained something of a new perspective. And I've fought you now so I have to admit that you're pretty good. It's just that you don't seem…look, I don't really care if you join or not, but..." He ran a hand through his hair again, clearly grasping for words. "I've seen a lot of bad guys in my day, and you...you seem different from them somehow. It's like you're trying really hard to be evil, but it doesn't come naturally to you. All I'm saying is that of all the bad guys out there, you're the least suited for it."
"For what?"
"For this," he gestured to the room around them at large. "Being a hostage, being a criminal; it doesn't feel right."
Words stuck inside her throat. For some reason, the way he had started speaking made her think…well, she didn't know what to think or what to expect, but it felt like he was going in a whole different direction than she had been anticipating. It was a bit disappointing for some reason.
"I'm...not sure how to respond to that."
"A real villain would probably see it as an insult."
She couldn't help herself. Her lips quirked in a little smile, and he grinned in reply. Neither of them said a word, and there was nothing tense or uncomfortable about that silence. For once, her thoughts did not interfere. It was as if they had reached some invisible, unspoken level of understanding.
The truth was congealed in her stomach like a hot ball of lead. But if not him, who else? Someone had to know. Someone had to help her understand.
The words slowly wriggled their way out. "You know, before I ran into you guys at the museum, there was a bit of a…situation. I sort of made a mistake on a previous job. See, there were these civilians and –"
But the moment was ruined when the door slid open and Robin, the Boy Blunder, came barreling into the room.
"Artemis, we – KF?" The eyelets of his domino mask widened. "What are you doing here?"
Wally leapt to his feet and gave a hacking cough. "Nothing! I was just, uh, keeping Artemis company until Green Arrow and Black Canary came back."
"Well, they're not," Robin replied with an amused smile. He turned to Artemis. "You're coming with us."
Artemis blinked. Surely she had heard that wrong. "Come again?"
Wally rushed over to his teammate and hissed, "Uh, dude, do you hear yourself?"
"Yup. Come on, Artemis. We're setting you free."
A/N: Have I mastered the art of the trolling cliffhanger yet? Because I admit it, that was just plain mean.
