Young Justice Oneshots

Origins: Artemis

Song is Broken Angel by Boyce Avenue 

Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Young Justice. DC does.

                                                                            ARTEMIS' POV

"C'mon Jade," I begged my big sister as she packed her bag across the room. I held my teddy bear in my lap. Don't judge the teddy. Mr. Beary's done more for me than most people. Also, I was only eight. having a teddy bear was 100% acceptable. "Jae, please, don't go. Don't leave me here alone! 

"I have to, Allie," She said, using the shortened version of her nickname for me, Alice. 

"No. No, you don't!" I begged. "Please. Please, don't go!"

"Sorry, Sis, but Mom's not getting out of prison anytime soon and I refuse to live in this house with just Dad!" My sister exclaimed. 

"Dad and you and me!" I reminded her. "We have to keep this family from falling apart!"

Jade didn't respond. Her hands stopped moving, frozen. I thought for a second that maybe I had convinced her to stay, but then she smacked her forehead. " Toothbrush, duh! Knew I was forgetting something!" 

She walked to our bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste. She started walking back to her bed. "Dad will come after you," I stated, trying once again to convince her to stay. 

She put her toothbrush in her bag. "Let him," She said confidently, and looked up at the Alice in Wonderland poster that hung above her bed. "I'll disappear. Like the Cheshire Cat." Jade pulled on her signature navy blue cap. She put her duffel on her shoulder and walked to the door. I jumped off of my bed and followed her, still clutching Mr. Beary to my chest. 

When she reached the door, she looked back at me, her brown eyes softening. "You should get out, too," She told me gently. A spark of hope started in my chest. Maybe she'd at least take me with her. I didn't want to go, to leave the only home that I've ever known, but I might if she actually asked me to. My hope was quickly dashed. "I'd let you come with me, but, you'd just slow me down." She added quickly. 

"Someone has to be here when Mom gets out," I said sadly. 

She glared at me, angry. "Haven't you learned anything?!" She snapped. "In this family, it's every girl for herself!" She walked out and closed the door, and I knew that she would never come back. I collapsed on my knees, holding back the rivers of tears that wanted flow out of my eyes as everything I knew was destroyed, crashing and burning and collapsing and shattering  into an irreparable oblivion. 

                                                        A FEW HOURS LATER

"Artemis! Jade! I'm home!" Sportsmaster's low, familiar voice called from the front of the apartment. I pretty much only called him Dad or Daddy when I was talking to him. Other than that, I often called him Sportsmaster, even in my head. Also, I was never quite sure what to do when he announced his arrival. If Jade and I came, he got annoyed. If we didn't come, he got annoyed. I opted to reply.

"Hey, Daddy!" I called back. "How was work?"

"Y'know, just the usual." Of course it was the usual. I hated the usual. It meant that there was a 99% chance that he had killed someone. I was glad that he didn't make me kill anyone. I remembered two weeks ago, just two days after Mom had gotten arrested and put in prison, Sportsmaster had taken Jade and me to 'work' with him. He had made Jade kill someone, a woman, while he and I watched. It had been terrifying. Even more so since Jae seemed relatively unfazed by it. Dad had made me even more scared afterwards. "It'll be your turn soon, Baby Girl." He had told me on the way back to his helicopter. I never, ever wanted it to be my turn.