Disclaimer- Do not own Young Justice or any of it's characters.
In case you all needed a reminder of how big of a manipulative douche Lawrence is...
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Chapter Length: 1,624 words
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Artemis made it to her home without becoming another murder case for the news.
She considered that a pretty good sign, but she knew better than to let her naive hope grow into reckless naivety.
Still, she was genuinely happy as she sat down and told her mother of her deed.
"You should have seen the look on that mom's face when she saw her little boy was safe," she sighed, sipping at the delicious hot tea Paula had poured while they sat at the couch.
"I'm so proud of you, Artemis," the woman said. "But what happened with Ojo.. that sounds very dangerous. I am not blaming you for acting as you did, but do be more careful; if you start causing problems for your packmates, there will be hell to pay for sure," Paula murmured gravely, staring down into her cup, past the steam swirling up to the tired circles beneath her eyes.
"I know," Artemis said quietly.
They finished their tea with the conversation turning to less immediately stressful problems, such as how her relationship with Wally was going.
"You know, you left your cell phone on the coffee table when you left to patrol," Paula said, staring slyly over the rim of her cup. "I could not help but… leaf through a few texts. I saw his contact picture. What a handsome young man."
Artemis nearly spat her tea out.
"Mom! I'm not fifteen, you can't just look through my private messages like that!" she seethed, snatching the said device up off the table. Paula laughed at her as she made sure nothing had been deleted or altered, before shoving it into the pocket of the shorts her mother had ready for her when she arrived back. "And I've told you I'm not looking to date him."
"But you can agree that he's handsome can't you? As a friend?"
Artemis groaned. She was beginning to think her mom was dying for grandkids or something.
Maybe Paula should have a chat with Jade, who may or may not have already popped out a damn kid with a human boy.
"Yes, of course. I mean, yeah, he's good looking. Are you happy now?"
Paula just grinned.
Some time later, after Artemis had made sure her mother was squared away for the night, she made her way to her room. She yawned deeply, tiredness finally seeping into her limbs. She had been through a lot tonight, sleep would do her a whole world of good.
Except, as soon as she opened the bedroom door and sleepily closed it behind her, the hairs on her neck stood to attention.
Someone was waiting for her in her room.
"Artemis."
The blonde cursed herself for not hearing him enter her room long before, for not smelling him the second he stepped foot through her window. She turned to face him; he was sitting casually on her sister's old bed, watching her with emotions she couldn't name on his face.
Well, this is it, she thought wildly, swallowing down bile. At least she had a nice hour with her mother before her execution sentence.
"Dad," she grit out, looking at him cautiously. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard you got yourself into a little trouble tonight," he began.
"So what if I did?" she boldly asked. It wasn't like Lawrence hadn't already threatened her about knowing what she did. Hell, the entire freaking pack likely knew by now that Artemis spent her time aiding humans. There was no need for him to dance around the subject like an asshole.
"Nothing. You want to help humans, baby girl? Go ahead," he said slowly, shrugging his broad shoulders. Artemis narrowed her eyes at the chalant tone in his voice; when Lawrence got chalant, it always meant trouble. "You think it hurts me any? I told you once before I have bigger problems than you."
Artemis had her guard up, as she always did around her dear old dad. She could never tell where his strange thoughts went, but she'd learned one too many times over the years to never pick up a false sense of security from his misleading words. She clenched her jaw at him.
"Flattering," she murmured shortly, but thought furiously on the inside, Maybe I'm a bigger problem than you think!
Lawrence stood up, walking across the room. As he moved he surveyed the wallpaper, the posters, the desk with the out of date computer on it.
Almost like he was trying to reserve her memory after a funeral by observing everything she'd touched in life.
"You and your sister always were more trouble for me than you were worth," he said, picking up one of Jade's old desktop knick knacks and turning it over in his hand. "But I'd say you, Artemis, have wound up being more troublesome for everyone else."
Artemis's brows came together.
"I already know, I'm a huge disappointment. Can you get on to your point, dad?" she scoffed, crossing her arms under her chest. Every single one of her senses was still on full alert, anxious for him to suddenly turn and lash on her, or for backup packmates to come bursting through the window to tear her to shreds.
Lawrence casually crushed the trinket in his palm, and set it back down. With bent legs, the little toy Cheshire cat fell to it's side helplessly. "Tell me, Artemis, have you ever stopped to consider your actions? Did you even think about the consequences of attacking Ojo while he was on business?"
Artemis snorted so hard it hurt.
"If by business you mean killing innocent children," she spat. "You know, dad, the funny thing is, I'm actually feeling pretty good about myself right now. I might even do it again."
Ooh, that felt good to say out loud to him. It was all out the window by now anyway, she might as well just let her feelings be known. As it were, Lawrence hardly reacted to her outward rebellion.
In fact, he smirked at her, and the resemblance to her own smirk had her scowling darkly at him.
"You go ahead and do that, baby girl. Whatever little hiccup it is in your genes that makes you want to be a hero for humans, you go ahead and let it shine. Like I said before, feed them, arm them! I won't do a thing to stop you! " Lawrence said, advancing on her. Artemis stood her ground, her fists clenching. Her eyes flashed silver at the man towering above her, but his seared gold right back at her as he continued. "But stealing a kill is another matter entirely, girl! The blood of every human life you tear out of a fellow werewolves claws will be on your hands, Artemis. You saved that little boy and you're feeling pretty good about yourself, but what happens when his mother has a freak encounter with an out of control animal and dies? How good will you feel then? The blood of his future misfortunes is all. Your. Fault, Artemis."
Her complexion paled, a cold sweat broke out across her skin.
Oh, Fenrir… no.
"You can't!" she rasped out like a child, backing up. Lawrence followed her until her shoulder blades met the wall. She had never felt more like a cornered animal in her life.
"Oh, I won't. I already told you I have bigger fish to fry. But Ojo? The other werewolves you may have interfered with?" Lawrence chuckled. "Werewolves don't let things go, and in case you've forgotten we know exactly where most of the humans in our territory live. We know where the boy lives. What happens if his family dies, Artemis? It would be all your fault, not the killers. You put him on the pack radar by helping him. You scorned Ojo by disrupting his kill. All of it, on you."
Artemis couldn't breathe. Her room felt unbearably hot, suffocating her, pressing down on her from all sides. Lawrence was right, he was completely and utterly right. She had been so busy contemplating the punishment she would receive for her transgression. All this time she should have been thinking about the boy's well-being, how what she had done could affect him.
Yet how could she not have acted? If she had left Ojo alone Garfield would have died at his claws, and then that blood would have been on her hands for doing nothing. Either way Artemis tried to look at it, both her actions and inactions left her the one wielding the bloody claws.
Everything was her fault.
Lawrence grinned over her, lifting her chin up with one finger, so that she was forced to look at him directly, eyes swimming with confusion, agony, and anger. The fucking bastard. Oh, Fenrir... why couldn't she have just been ruthless and indifferent like her dad? She'd never wanted this life, she'd tried so hard to get away from it, and even that was falling apart
"It's time for you to pick a side, Artemis. You don't belong with humans, you're one of us. Do them a favor and stick to your roots," he told her, dropping her chin with finality. Artemis couldn't bring herself to move. She stared blankly ahead at the wall, barely registering her dad's exit through the window.
An immeasurable amount of time passed there in the dark, with inner demons bearing down on her as vehemently as the suffocating heat, until she was sure she was drowning in it. She closed her eyes so tight she saw spots, a million conflicting thoughts running through her head.
Artemis slid down the wall, holding her legs tightly to her body.
What could she possibly do now?
o.o.o.o
Really playing on the emotional and mental abuse that Greg confirmed of Lawrence so many years ago. Don't worry though, Artemis isn't a badass for nothing. Also I promise there's more Wally/Artemis in this fic, ha, just haven't really gotten into yet. Should be some in the next chapter or so, methinks.