Behind the Curtain - Heathers

The Me Inside Of Me

After spending the morning at the cave Artemis had cooled enough to go out and headed back to her house. Gotham wasn't hospitable most of the time, but today it seemed worse. Maybe it was her guilty conscious, maybe it was the fact that she was alone, maybe it was the fact that her sister could be around any one of these corners. She walked down the cold streets, her head ducked to avoid being seen by anyone, and that must be why she didn't notice the person she walked straight into.

"Oh, I'm sorry," She said as she looked up only to notice that it was Wally, "Wally? What are you doing here?"

"I just came to visit Rob," He said, "What are you doing here?"

"I had morning detention," She quickly lied, "Private schools are strict."

"Hope it was fun," He smirked, "You in a rush to get anywhere? I can drop you off if you want."

"I don't need to go anywhere," Artemis said, "Maybe we could hang out for a while?"

"Sure," He replied quickly, "I'd love that, in fact, I know a diner just around the corner. They serve the best burgers."

"Well then, maybe we should head over there now. Get out of the cold," She said, a small blush rising on my cheeks, "Plus, it is almost lunchtime."

"It's always lunchtime when you're with me babe," Wally grinned as he took her arm and lead her around the corner to Kane Diners.

"I love this place," She said as he led her inside and to a booth, "And, did you know, it was Bette's grandad who set this place up just after World War two?"

"No, no I did not," He said as he picked up a menu and began to read, "But I do know its everywhere because of how amazing it is. I'll pay for you."

"You sure?" She asked as she picked up her own menu, "I do have apple pay."

"My treat," He smiled at her, "Think of it as praise for surviving a Sunday morning detention."

"Well then, I thank you greatly," She said with a small salute and they both had a small giggle.

They ordered their food and ate over small talk before parting again to go their separate ways. Artemis swears, she would happily go on another date with him in a heartbeat, who knew that she could fall for such a dork? She continued her walk home with a smile on her face and when she got home her mum had prepared herself lunch and was eating whilst she watched the news.

"Hey mum," Artemis called as she entered the room, "How was your morning?"

"It was good," She smiled back at her daughter as she sat down, "Managed to get some orders sent out for the Stichting and I've had another order come in for some scarfs, we might actually get enough income to pay off the bills if this continues."

"That's great mum," Artemis smiled back at her and then turned to the news, where it was just some small petty crimes again and Bruce Wayne holding a gala next week Sunday evening to celebrate Jason moving into the manor after a couple of months. Invites were coming out on Monday for all invited, which usually involved the Justice League these days seeing he was such a large sponsor of their equipment, maybe she'd get dragged along this time because of the musical. She can't decide if she'd hate that or not. On one hand, socialising and acting pretty, on the other, more time with Wally. Maybe, if she did get invited, she'd wear a mask and kiss him, finally make a move whilst he couldn't tell it was her. Maybe it would be heaven.

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Babs found it weird, after seeing Dick so much this week to then have to go a day by herself. It was almost as if he'd become interpreted in her everyday life even more than he had before, which was saying something. Her dad was still at work, at least until 5 this evening as he always was these days, so she had free reign over what to do all day. The first 2 hours were on homework and making sure that was all finished, then the next hour going over everything they had done at rehearsals so far. But then it was only lunch, so she fixed herself a sandwich and headed out for a walk. Gotham wasn't the safest place to go for a walk, but it was worth it if she could get out of the house for a couple of hours, forget about her dad never being there anymore. Forget about any troubles she had and just breathe in the air. She didn't have to go far to reach the local park where she sat down to watch the ducks in the pond. A few people ran by, out for a midday jog if they were lucky, but there was one person who kept circling the park to the point where she became curious and decided to watch them. He was middle-aged, blonde and had quite a bit of muscle. In fact, Babs thought it might be Jake's dad. God, that can only mean bad news.