How Can We

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Artemis sighed. She was sitting down on her bade, legs crossed, hands cupped around her face. Oliver drove her home, to the rundown apartment building on the outskirts of the Narrows. He escorted her back to her door for her safety. She didn't want to tell him that she's learned from a young age how to defend herself.

But no one knew that besides her family, along with the rest of their secrets.

Her mother answered the door, thanking Oliver for getting her home safely. She maneuvered her wheelchair into the kitchen to get him some water.

"Please don't make a fuss Paula. I think we all know what needs to be discussed." Oliver said getting straight to the point. He sat on the couch directly across from Artemis who was staring intently into her lap.

"Artemis, we care about you and we want you to take a break from archery." Oliver suggested.

"You can't do that!" She exclaimed. "I need archery." She needed it for support and in her view her sanity.

"Look at the way you are acting Artemis. Your behavior is erratic and frightening. We are only suggesting that for a week or two."

"Is this an intervention?"

"Artemis!" Her mother called out. "I am worried about you and don't know what else to do to make you listen." Artemis realized she was just creating more worries for her mother, the last thing she wanted to do. Yet, giving up archery even for a week would destroy her.

"Fine. Is this over now?" She asked crossing her arms over her shoulder.

"Yes, can you give us a moment?" Oliver asked the blonde. She nodded and walked to her room to think over what happened on her own in solitude.

Just as she closed the door she heard her mother asking Oliver to look out for Artemis. He assured her will would do everything he can.

"I will protect her like she was my own daughter."

Artemis would have been flattered if it weren't for the memories it brought back of her real father.

*******

"You're pathetic." Wally's voice echoed in her head. The sad part was that he was right, and she hated it. She hated that she couldn't let anyone in, but she had to be guarded. She knew no other way of living.

It just baffled how hurtful Wally's words when she's barely known him for a month. It was a different kind of sting than if someone else called her pathetic. If it was anyone else she would have just brushed it off, but the fact that it was Wally made all the difference.

And for life of her she couldn't figure out why.

So Artemis went to the only person she trusted to help. She told her mom she was going for a walk, slipped on a jacket and walked out of the stifling apartment for fresh air.

Sometimes she felt like she was suffocating at home with all the unwanted memories she tried her hardest to block out.

She walked a few blocks to wait for Dick by a well lit street corner. A few minutes later a black limousine pulled up and the door opened from the inside. Artemis went in and sat across from Dick.

"Hey Alfred." She greeted the aging butler who smiled back at her in response. "Good Afternoon Miss." Then the butler closed the partition to give the teens some privacy.

"You probably know by now what happened." She said bluntly.

He nodded averting his gaze him her. "He came to me afterward. By the time I got to the gym you were gone. I assumed you went home."