YJFam Oneshots/Stories

Only Human (ArrowFam)

Artemis' POV 

I shoot my arrow as Green Arrow watches. It misses. Frick. Stupid, stupid. I've only been his protegee for two weeks. And I've already gone and messed up. Stupid, stupid arrow. No, correction: stupid, stupid girl. It wasn't the arrow's fault that I'd missed. It was mine.

GA walks over to me. "I know, I know," I say. "It missed. I'm stupid and I need to try again."

"Yes, it missed," He says, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Yes, you need to try again. No, you are NOT stupid. What would even make you think that? Whether or not your smart doesn't have nearly anything to do with missing the target. Seriously, calling yourself stupid because you missed a target is like saying a cat is a dog just because it's big. It makes next to no sense. Why would you say that about yourself?"

I frown. "That's what Dad said whenever I missed." He'd also usually call me an ignorant, useless, good-for-nothing b-word, too, but I decide not to mention that particular detail.

"Well, Arty, he was wrong. You're not stupid because you miss one out of a hundred shots. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Plus, you're new to this."

"I've been doing archery since the beginning of kindergarten. I am SO not new to this. I've been doing this for literally most of my life, ten years out of fifteen. I AM stupid if I'm still missing shots at this point."

"You're new to the hero thing, is what I'm saying. I've been in this gig longer than you've been alive, and I still miss the occasional shot. Also, you're father is a dirty, lying jerk. You know that. So why do you believe him?"

A tear trickles down my face. I angrily wipe it away. "I don't," I say. A lie. An obvious one at that.

Green Arrow sighs. "That's not true and we both know it."

For some reason, that just makes me snap. "Well maybe it's because he said that and worse for years and nobody contradicted him!" I yell, infuriated. "Nobody cared! Because I'm worthless if I can't fight, if I can't use this stupid bow!" I repeat, quieter this time, "I'm worthless." Tears start streaming down my face. I try to wipe them away, but there are too many of them, and they just keep coming, so I give up. "I'm worthless to the team, worthless to the League, worthless to Mom, worthless to the Shadows, and worthless to you if I can't fight. I'm nothing. NOTHING!" All of a sudden, I start to sob, something that I haven't done since I was a little girl. I collapse to my knees. "I'm weak."

I feel his strong arms wrap around me. He pulls me into his lap. He quietly shushes me, softly stroking my blonde hair, and gently starts talking. "You have people who care (who are around) now. You are not worthless. You are not nothing. You are not weak because you are crying. Do not put yourself down like that. I know that it's hard for you to do that, but you need to, ok? Nobody who cares about you wants you to feel like that. Not me, not Canary, not the team, not the league, and certainly not your mother, who would have a cow if she knew that you think that that crap is true. You're only human, and no human is perfect. Just remember that, ok? No matter what happens, there will always be someone there for you. Do you hear me? Do you understand me?"

I nod, still crying. Then I stop nodding and look up towards Oliver. It still feels weird to call him that. I look him dead in the face and ask, with tears still rolling down my cheeks like small rivers, "Promise?"

He nods and hugs me tighter. "Promise. I swear it on my life, that someone will always be here for you from now on. I promise."

I start to cry harder, but out of joy this time. I'm not used to people caring about me enough to even lie to me about that. My dad did sometimes, but I knew he was lying; he had been the one to teach me how to lie like a con artist, and how to tell when others were lying. Now that somebody was truthfully telling me that I wasn't what my own father said that I was was amazing.

"Thank you, Uncle Ollie," I say and I can sense him smile. I truly mean the loving nickname from the bottom of my heart, and he can tell.

"You're more than welcome, Sweetheart. You're more than welcome." 

Words: 782