Always Traught

Scars

They both had scars. Some were short, some were long. Some were flat. Others were uneven. All of her scars were visible due to her tan skin. Very few were faded, but most were almost white. The majority of his were hard to see, since he was so pale. You could only see them up close. Only a few scars were pink. It didn't matter if anyone could see them or not. Each scar defined them in some way. It was his idea to start asking the questions.

Dick grabbed Artemis' right wrist and placed his finger on scar that was in the center of her palm. It went all the way up to her ring finger and he traced it. The blonde looked up and him with a raised eyebrow. They were in his bed, with her against his chest. They weren't doing anything sexual or romantic. It was just them hanging out. The two were close like that.

"What?"

"How did you get this scar?" He asked, still tracing it. It wasn't completely straight, but it wasn't completely curved either.

"It's been there for a couple of years. It's not brand new," The archer said, still looking at him like he was crazy. Dick rolled his blue eyes at her.

"If you tell me about your scar, I'll tell you about one of mine. Deal?" He proposed. She shrugged before telling her story.

"First time I went to the park, I tripped and fell on the wood chips. One ended up cutting me. I was like five so I don't remember it that much ... Okay, your turn," She grabbed his left arm and placed her finger on a tiny one that was in the shape of a circle.

The raven chuckled to himself as he recalled the memory, "I destroyed Wally in Mortal Kombat and he stabbed me with a pencil. Barry made him give me a hand-written apology."

The archer chuckled too, "That's pretty funny. What about this one?" She pointed to another one that was on the tip of his thumb.

Dick shrugged, "Dunno." He let go of her arm and placed his finger on one the was exposed by her crop top. It was next to her bellybutton and in the shape of a waning crescent. It was big and raised. He had noticed it before, but Dick never asked about it. Wally attempted to and had a bruise the size of softball for at least two weeks. "Tell me about this one."

Artemis took a deep breath, "It was after Jade left. Dad was angry when he couldn't find her. There was no one else to take his anger out on, so he gave me this. I was bleeding pretty bad and had to give myself my own stitches. If it was done by a professional, it probably would have healed properly," She scoffed to lighten the mood. Dick sadly smiled at her.

"Any happy ones?"

"Well, I got this one," The goddess turned her left wrist to show him the scar that went across it, "I was cooking Mac N' Cheese and burnt myself. The kids I was babysitting almost called 911." They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Eventually Artemis turned around and lifted up his shirt. She found a scar that went all the way along his chest. It wasn't raised but one of the more visible ones. It went on for inches and inches. "This one."

"It was the first scar that Joker gave me. He only used the tip of his knife, but it was poisoned. I screamed for days," He looked down at the scar and frowned. He didn't remember the pain, but Alfred told him that he had never heard a boy scream so loud. Bruce refused to talk about it.

"The Mad Hatter gave me one," The blonde removed her shirt and he could see the scar almost right away. Her sports bra cover most of it, but he could tell she had been stabbed, "My dad trusted him with me. At the time he hid his insanity pretty well. I was twelve so I trusted him too. I mean, he would take me out for dinner, get me clothes, and read me stories. My dad had a mission that night and let that bastard watch me. I was about to fall asleep and he tried to take off my shirt. He thought I was the perfect Alice. I knew the story and I was blonde. When I fought back, he stabbed me. Lucky, my dad forgot something and came back. He nearly killed that creep. I was in the hospital for weeks, but I think that was the only time that Dad was proud of me."

"I'm sorry, Mai," Dick breathed as he hugged her. Artemis shook her head.

"I'm not. We scar for a reason, and they define us because of it."

"You think that's true?" The blonde nodded and they let silence fill the room again. Artemis leaned her head on his shoulder and he put his arms around her waist. As they relaxed, Dick kept thinking about what she said. The more he did, the more he agreed. He had scars from being a Flying Grayson, from being Batman's protégée, and from protecting his friends on the team. Those things all defined him.

With a deep breath he pointed to a mark on her shoulder and asked, "How does this one define you?"

She touched a scar on his collarbone, "Only if you tell me how this one defines you."