Always Traught

In Another Timeline

She looked at Dick, and felt her heart twinge. It wasn't due to the pain that seemed to radiate through her bones, through every muscle, and flow throughout her arteries. And it wasn't the feeling of disgust, the feeling she had felt continuously for the past couple days. It was due to a feeling that she instantly knew was love. It started in her heart, followed the blood that it pumped, and filled every limb. And the emotion stirred the butterflies in her belly. It was sudden, too. If she was standing, she bet it would have knocked her down.

But the more she looked at him, the more confused she got. She shouldn't have felt that twinge when she looked at him. That twinge should have been on hold for one man only. That man was Wally West. The more she thought, the more her head swirled into a spiral. It went down, and down, and down. But Wally hasn't visited me yet, She thought, He refused to.

Wally didn't want to see her swollen, bruised face. He didn't want to see her with choppy hair. Wally didn't even want to see her with casts and splints on. He didn't want to see her when she was ugly. That littered all of Artemis' being with repulse. She wanted to shake off all her flesh and replace it with something much prettier. She kept replaying the image of her doing just that, until Dick came in with a tub of ice cream, her favorite flowers (really the only flowers she liked), and his laptop. They watched a few movies as they munched on ice cream. Artemis put his flowers in front of all the other ones she had received. Eventually, the archer broke down crying. She asked him why she was so ugly, what happened to her (because she couldn't remember), and a million other questions that threw her into tears. Dick shushed her, rubbed her aching back, and told her that she was beautiful. He said that she would find out about what happened all in due time and that everything was okay. He told her that she was finally safe. Like hell, she really did feel secure in his arms. Artemis always felt safe when he held her.

Artemis kept recalling moments like those. Sometimes the boy wonder would be the one in a hospital bed, or on the field, and she would be the one comforting him. In those moments, it felt as if it was only him and her in the universe. He knew that she would protect him from all things horrible. She felt the same when the roles where reversed. Every time the goddess would get closer to falling into the rabbit hole of immense affection.

Artemis eyes moved to their tangled fingers. Before Dick had fallen asleep, he grabbed her hand. Now, their fingers were loosely in between each other's. It was a small act but it meant the world. Dick chose to be by her side. He didn't care about how she looked. He didn't care if her hair was now up to her shoulders. The acrobat cared if she was in pain. He cared about how she felt and wanted to end her seemly endless confusion.

Artemis Crock loved Dick Grayson. It was something she would never be confused about. However, she couldn't be with him either, at least not in this universe. Dick didn't love her back. She considered that a fact. It was a strict as a law ingrained in the sands of time. But maybe in another timeline, or on some other earth, or even in a different universe, they loved each other completely an equally.

A/N: I'm sorry that this one's really short. Should I write another one of these where the roles are switched? 🤔 Thanks for all the love and support! <3