The Luck of the Irish {Sequel to Kiss Me, I'm Irish}

Chapter 6: Explanations and Temptations

Hello everyone! Sorry so much for the delay! It's been a weird few weeks here, and I've been admittedly a bit distracted with a side project, so this hasn't been getting my full attention like it should. Anyways, I finished this up, and thought you all had been patient enough. Hope you all enjoy! :)

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Diana sat at the edge of Artemis' bed, giving him an expectant look. He had a lot of explaining to do, and that was putting it mildly. Artemis had sworn to her after her kidnapping he was done with crime for good, that he was going straight. Obviously all of that went up in smoke somewhere, and Diana was not thrilled about this turn of events in the slightest.

"Well?" she demanded.

Artemis sighed. "Diana, I'm sorry," he began. "So immensely sorry, and even that doesn't even begin to cover it."

"Why?" Diana continued to question, unable to hide the irritation in her voice. "Why did you even think that was a good idea?"

She could tell he was struggling with someone questioning his actions, but she knew if she didn't do it, no one would. It wasn't like he had other friends, and at this point she wasn't about to call his parents or Butler, although she was so tempted. Artemis stared at the floor, trying to think of the right words to explain his actions to her. Diana sat with her arms crossed, watching him bite his bottom lip for a minute before he finally spoke.

"My intentions when I stole the gem were good," he said quietly. "I wanted to use the gem as a means to help power a new invention of mine. You know it's been a long standing project of mine to help reverse some of the human-caused damage to the environment, and my last invention was destroyed before I could really use it. I... I thought if I had the gem, I would be able to harness its power for good."

"But you didn't anticipate it getting stolen from you," Diana retorted skeptically.

"Exactly," Artemis added, finally looking up at her. "The plan was to keep it safe until I needed to harness its energy. Since I am here, and not at home with my lab and proper safety protocols or safes, that meant me keeping an eye on it myself until then."

Diana nodded, arms still firmly crossed. "You couldn't have used a different power source for this invention of yours? I mean... there's so many different options- yet you chose to steal an important fairy artifact?" she questioned. "One that if it fell into the wrong hands could literally get us all killed?"

"It was a flawed plan," Artemis admitted softly.

"You don't say?" Diana went on. "My biggest problem with this 'flawed plan' of yours isn't so much that you stole the gem, but the fact you lied to me. You swore to me that you were done with the criminal lifestyle, and yet here we are. Why?"

Artemis honestly didn't have a good answer for that. "I suppose old habits are hard to break," he muttered. "I told you it wasn't a great reason."

Diana sighed, exasperated, unfolding her arms to rub her forehead in frustration. "You were doing so well! It's been over two years, Artemis. Two years. And now all of a sudden you want to steal things again?" she ranted. She was so angry tears were starting to form in her eyes. "How many more lies have there been?"

Artemis immediately moved over to wipe her eyes with his hands. He hated seeing her upset, especially because of him. "None, Diana. I swear," he answered her, making as much eye contact as possible. Artemis was unaccustomed to begging for forgiveness, and the words felt strange leaving his mouth. "It was a mistake; one I won't make again. Please forgive me."