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If there was one thing she had always expected from him, then it’s his kind of brutal ways. It’s only rare when Artemis would find time to go on missions with Jason Todd. Actually, her venturing into heroics is very rare. Seeing as she’s in college, and Gotham has all the bat kids they could possibly need—if not more.
So she focused herself on something much more than heroics. She’s currently studying to be a psychologist, and probably one day, she’d stuff herself into law school. There’s no specific direction in Artemis Crock’s life, all she knows is that she wants to help the world in other ways. Not just beating up bad guys and leaving their hands zip-locked in at the side of the street.
So when she watched as Jason not-so-gently handed over the criminal to her, she was taken aback. She expected him to drop that criminal down a building, and pull him back again, and repeat the cycle. But instead, he just told her to do whatever she needs to do and get it over with.
Placing her hand on the collar of the criminal’s shirt, she pulled him to face level, an angry expression evident upon her face.
“Where is Paula Crock?” She asked through gritted teeth as she kneed the guy on the stomach.
“I ain’t fucking telling you.” Was his reply. And she found herself pushing him hard against the wall.
She punched him by the face again making sure that the physical pain is equivalent to the anger she felt. “I asked you once, and I’m asking you again—there better be an answer here you fucking asshole or you’re not going to get out of here alive. Where is Paula Crock?”
“I’m telling you nothing, you little slag.”
She found herself wrestling the damn criminal to the ground and punching him in the face repeatedly. If he’s not going to tell her the whereabouts of her mother, then she’ll make sure that he’s not going to get out of there alive.
“You fucking dick!” A punch. “It was one simple question.” Another punch. “And now—“ She punched him again, “look at where you got yourself into.” His face is barely even recognisable. “You’re fucking dead, you little bitch. You hear me?” This was the last one, and she made sure that it counts. “You’re fucking dead.”
A pair of strong arms lifted her up and then she was hoisted onto Jason’s broad shoulder.
“That’s enough, Artemis. That’s not you.”
Almost all of her energy was drained, but that doesn’t mean that she’s not trying to get away from Jason. And this time, he placed her in a position where she couldn’t exactly twist herself enough to bite his sides (it has always been a thing between the two of them, him lifting her up to get her away from a not-so-good scene; and then she’d bit him off the sides and he’d put her down eventually).
“Stop fighting, Artemis. I’m taking you home, and by home I mean not your apartment.”
She knew where they were going. They were going to his apartment. Because as much as they both hated to admit it, it was the place where they both felt most at home. It’s the place where the late night talks would happen, where The Princess Bride would play until three in the morning, and they would find themselves sharing the only decent blanket he has.
It was their place, their safe haven. And she felt herself soften as he took her away from the empty parking lot.
Thirty minutes was all it took before she was sat on Jason’s couch in lotus position. He was gone for a while, and he came back later with his a washcloth in his hand, and then he wiped the blood off her knuckles.
“You almost killed him, Artemis.”
“I know.”
“That’s not you.”
“Maybe it is. Look, Jason, you only knew me for what? A year? And that’s not long enough for you to know how fucked up my dark side is. Who knows maybe I could kill that man in a heartbeat and I don’t feel remorse afterwards, right? Don’t tell me that the person you saw there wasn’t me. Because it sure as hell felt like it was me all along.” She snapped.
Suddenly, his arms were around her and there was no more space left between their bodies. Artemis held on to him for dear life, holding him as if he was the only lifeline left for her to hold on to.
Her mother was gone, abducted by her father’s men. And she had been looking for her mother endlessly. Tirelessly navigating through countries and different bases, trying to look for every significant place to her parents and seeing if her mother was being held captive there.
She’s exhausted, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. There was anger and rage boiling inside of her, the steel in her bones reacting harshly to the idea of her mother not returning.
“You’re so much more than your wrath, Artemis.”
“But I have to… I have to find her.”
And then his lips are on hers, and her mind is foggy. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t even process what’s going on. But when it finally sunk in, she kissed him, not even bothering to hold back her harshness. Her teeth grazed his bottom lip and their bodies are pressed against each other. It made her feel light, like she was floating in mid-air, and that she’s never ever going to hit the ground. It felt brilliant, it made her toes curl and her back arch. Her eyes are closed and her hands are on his chest.
Nothing felt more right than kissing Jason Todd.
But she had to pull away, of course she had too. It was always her defence mechanism to pull away from people who could possibly break her. Although it was finally proven and was handed to her on a silver platter, she couldn’t fight her habits. He loved her back, she knew it by the way his eyes were closed and the way his hand caressed her cheek. And she loved him, too. Probably more than he does, if not equally.
They love each other, yes. That is now a fact. But that doesn’t deny the potential happening of Jason Todd hurting her. She’s been through enough pain to feel it from him, so she places a good distance between the two of them, only to be pulled back by Jason who rested his forehead against hers.
“We’re both so much more than our wrath, Artemis. I hope you understand that.” He told her, eyes staring deep into her soul.
“What if we get hurt?”
“Then the pain would be worth it.”
“I still have to look for my mother.”
“Then don’t go where I can’t follow.”