Chapter Text
Artemis had always tried her very best at everything. Ever since she was a little kid, she'd tried to make her mom proud by doing well in school. She'd also tried her best to make her home happy.
Which was... not an easy task.
After Jade left, and her mother was still in prison, She'd become the caretaker of the house. Making sure that everything was clean, laundry was done, and food was cooked or face her father's "hardest training."
And once her mother was back... it really didn't change much. She had some help of course, but her mother couldn't do much. So she was still the primary caretaker.
And then when she was brought to the team....
She'd worked so hard to gain everyone's trust. Baking cookies with M'gann, training with Kaldur, Robin and Conner. She was good with everyone... except Wally.
The speedster still looked at her with that untrustworthy gaze. And honestly? She couldn't fault him for it.
But she'd learned to live with it... and held her head high as one of the team.... until everyone has almost died during the Android attack. And she would've been responsible for it.
The days after that, she became quiet and reserved, drawing away and mostly staying in her room, cuddling her childhood bear and crying into him.
It was after the fourth day when M'gann realized her fellow teammate hadn't been eating and of her meals, and also hadn't been showing up for practice.
"Do you think we should go check on her?" She asked the group over a pan of only slightly burnt cookies.
"Nah, she's fine." Wally said through a mouthful of food. "Maybe she realizes we're onto her and her mole days are almost over."
His statement was met with disappointed stares from M'gann and Kaldur, and Robin actually smacked him over the head
"You really think with how much investigating I do, we wouldn't know if she was the mole by now?"
"Maybe you missed some things."
The boywonder sighed. "I'll go talk to her."
"Why not me?" Wally demanded.
"Full offense KF, but you aren't the best at these kind of conversations,and besides. We kind of bonded over the whole trauma that happened."
And with that, he'd separated from the group.
He'd ran a whole a conversation through his head, and had a whole bunch of questions lined up for the archer, but when she never answered her door... even though he'd been pounding on it... he got worried.
"Artemis?" He called through the door, and after receiving no answer, he gently pushed open the door.
The scene he walked into made his blood run cold.
Artemis was out of uniform and in civvy clothes, laying in her bed, hugging tightly to a stuffed bear. That itself wasn't bad. A bit unusual for the snippy teen, but not wrong
What was wrong... was the slash marks cut into her wrists.
The young superhero made a mad dash for the girl, and immediately checked for a pulse.
Thank God, she had one.
"Team, I need you in Artemis's room NOW!" He yelled into his radio, and hurriedly searched for something to stop the bleeding... which ended up being his cape.
When the others ran in to find Robin binding a very pale Artemis's wrists.
"Oh my gosh." M'gann gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth.
Wally and Conner stood speechless, and Kaldur knelt next to Robin. "How can I help?"
"Should I call a medic?" M'gann asked.
Robin was about to reply, when Artemis began to whimper, and whisper something, her eyes not opening.
"What's she saying?" Wally asked quietly.
Conner frowned in confusion as he stared at the unconscious blond. "She says she wants her daddy."