Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

A/N: I've chosen to ignore all public gym dress-codes, as well as the realistic distance between Gotham City and Star City.

Electric Archers
For chalantness on Tumblr

Artemis should have known trouble was going to start when Roy asked for her number.

"Purely for mission purposes," he explained with a gleaming grin.

Artemis snapped her compound bow shut and didn't even glance at him. "You know, nothing's stopping me from giving you a fake number," she replied with heat.

"No," Roy agreed. He folded his arms and relaxed against the wall behind him. "But nothing's stopping me from just hacking the phone system and finding the number myself."

"I will dismember your every limb," Artemis shot back.

"You have to catch me first though."

Artemis finally looked up and narrowed her eyes at Roy's smirk. She didn't want to start thinking about the possible flirtatious undertone to his comment, and instead exhaled slowly, like a dragon fanning the coals in her chest. She fished a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket, and wrote down her number along with a quick note. She handed it to him, and walked out of the locker room without another word.

Roy waited until the last swish of her ponytail disappeared behind the door before reading her message, and then his laughter filled every empty locker with the dancing notes of his booming guffaw.

"This isn't freakin Pokemon," she had written.

Artemis twirled her pencil around her thumb and stared thoughtfully out the window. Every now and then, she would grab the end of her hair and pull until cold water dripped onto the floorboards below. On the bed in front of her was her laptop, opened to a blank word processing document, its ticker waiting patiently to sow letters and harvest words. Next to her was a copy of Tao Te Ching, spread open and weighed down with her cell phone. A single line was underlined with a silver stroke that tapered at the end: "Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful."

Suddenly, her phone vibrated and slid off the smooth pages of the book, causing the profound writings of Lao Tsu to shuffle itself closed. Artemis bit her lip and unleashed a guttural growl within her throat. She picked up her phone and saw the cause of chaos was a text message from a new number.

"Even if you had a Masterball," it read, "you still wouldn't be able to."

Artemis sighed loudly. She knew exactly who it was.

"Purely for mission purposes?" she quoted. "You liar."

"Who said this wasn't mission-related?" came Roy's response a few seconds later.

Artemis dragged her fingers through her wet hair. "What do you want," she typed back. No question mark; just an agitated statement reflecting an agitated mood.

"GA insists we team up on the next patrol," Roy answered. "Something about teamwork." And then, predicting her scowl, he added, "Not my idea, btw!"

"I can't wait." She knew he would pick up on the sarcasm.

When Roy didn't reply, Artemis returned her gaze to out the window, past the brick buildings lit by streetlamps and moth wings, and out into the open sky. A few clouds brushed against the blackness, with glowing orange bellies and feathery silver tops.

Even though she would scream in vexation if Roy had continued the conversation, she couldn't stop herself from glancing at the screen of her phone every few minutes as her fingers tapped away at the keyboard.

Her phone suddenly buzzed during class, rocking through the somniferous lecture and earning a few startled glances towards her direction. She shrugged apologetically at her classmates and slowly inched her phone out of her bag. It was a text from Roy, which elicited an equal mixture of annoyance and frisson.

His message only contained two words: "Roget's. August."

"Artemis! Phone away!"

Artemis's eyes darted up at her teacher, who stood quivering over her podium with piercing eyes. She shifted in her seat and quietly slid the phone out of sight.

Roy had texted her in code, of course, in case her phone should be "compromised". The first word was always the location of the patrol meet-up. She had spent the first night with Green Arrow memorizing all the code names for every location in and surrounding Star City, and it was all second-nature to her like knowing her own phone number. "Roget's" was the alias for Star City's downtown library.

The second word dictated the meet-up time. Each month of the year corresponded to their numerical hour. If a minute designation was required, the dates were used. If the time was past the half-hour, the summation of two dates would conclude the time.

Artemis burned with a desire to text back, "I won't bother bringing my library card because there's definitely nothing to check out." However, the rules of Mrs. Bevilacqua's class were impermeable barriers, so her wit was unfortunately lost into the rambles about price ceilings.

Thankfully, the bell rang no less than fourteen minutes later, and Artemis immediately reached for her phone.

"Someone's having an exciting conversation."

She looked up into Bette's wink.

"New boy?" her friend playfully ventured.

Artemis released a loud "Ha!" and quickly dropped her phone back into her bag, followed with a tumble of her notebook and pencils.

"Not a chance," she replied rapidly, and walked down the aisle to the door.

Bette grinned and followed her. "You've always been a lousy liar," she said once they were in the bustling hallway.

"Well, this guy's kind of a dick," Artemis explained tartly, and frowned at some freshman boy who suddenly whipped around with an expecting expression.

"Oh yeah?" Bette turned to her friend and raised her eyebrows. "Your smile said differently when you got that text."

Artemis simply huffed and opted for the silent card. Bette chuckled and waved her hand to a subject change.

The blonde archer landed in a crouch on the roof of Star City's library at exactly one minute before eight. Her ponytail snapped backwards in an arc of light, and she swiftly surveyed the area before steadily standing up.

"GA taught you well."

Artemis leisurely turned her head to the side and saw Roy leaning against a ventilator.

"I was already paranoid before GA taught me anything," she answered, her tone swelling with defiance.

"Of course," Roy replied with a sarcastic dusting. He pushed himself off the metal and walked to the edge of the building, where he stooped low and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Artemis followed, and he passed the binoculars to her.

"I got intel of an illegal arms deal happening between the Triad and a local gang," Roy explained. "It'll be located in a loading dock a block from here."

Artemis adjusted the binoculars and zoomed in on three armed men guarding a currently empty warehouse driveway.

"Why does the Triad care about Star City's local gangs?" she asked, still scanning the area.

"No clue," Roy answered flatly. "I just know if we don't stop this deal, people are going to get hurt."

"And more importantly," Artemis continued, putting down the binoculars and facing him, "why is this a 'we' mission and not just a 'you' thing?"

Roy took the binoculars from her hand and folded them away. "The Triad regularly uses someone to distract any attackers while another member takes them down. I'm going to need cover at all times. This isn't a job for a lone wolf. I need a hunting partner."

Artemis snorted. "Glad to know I've been promoted from Most Wanted to your partner."

Roy stood up and shot a zip-line arrow to the next building. "You're still on my Most Wanted list," he quipped as he swung his bow over the line, "so don't flatter yourself."

Artemis sighed irritably and followed him, but as soon as she was on the line, the redness in her thoughts shot away like a star. She always loved using the zip-line to travel from building to building. Sometimes she would look up into the dark sky and wonder what life would be like if humans had wings.

They landed quietly and moved to their vantage point. Roy motioned for Artemis to stay.

"Cover me," he mouthed, before disappearing into the shadows.

Artemis nocked an arrow at the ready, and scanned the scene below her. Now that she was closer, she could pick out the hidden guardsmen perched along the delivery truck's path. A flicker of burgundy caught her eye and she spotted Roy silently taking each guard out of the picture one by one. They fell like rain until only the original three gunmen standing in front of warehouse door were left.

"Show-off," Artemis whispered into her headpiece.

Roy snorted in return. "The truck should be arriving any second now," he added quietly. "Remember, I need you to stay exactly where you are and—"

"—cover you, I got it."

There was a rumble down the street with the distinct notes of weighty cargo, and a heavily graffitied semi-truck turned towards the warehouse. Roy ducked out of sight as the headlights swept into the driveway.

Artemis watched as one of the guards tilted his head to speak into a clip-on radio. He paused for a few seconds, and did it again, his body movements jagged and clearly agitated.

"I think the remaining guards know someone took out the other guys," Artemis hissed. Just as soon as Roy copied, the truck braked and lurched forward in a high-pitched whine. Suddenly the armed men were scattering out and calling into their radios for their unconscious comrades.

Artemis's eyes never left Roy as he raised himself over an oil barrel and shot three arrows in succession at the three men, all of which missed their targets. These weren't the usual guards you find in the Yellow Pages then.

The truck's door swung open, and a man built like a soda machine barreled towards Roy. Artemis pulled back her arrow and Mr. Soda hit the ground with a thud like hammer on wood. Roy muttered a quick thanks before jumping over the barrel and bringing his bow down on a charging guard.

As the two engaged in hand-to-hand combat, Artemis's eyes darted from corner to corner, searching for the other gunmen. She had never let perpetrators escape their deserved justice.

Suddenly she saw him—the leader. He was hastily sidling along the edge of the building she was perched on, trying to use Roy's scuffle as a distraction.

"Oh no you don't," Artemis muttered, and sprinted across the roof with an arrow aimed at her target.

The man looked up at the sound of footfalls, and immediately tumbled into a herd of trashcans as a net enclosed around him. Artemis smiled, and then suddenly the purest feeling of dread knocked into her chest as she remembered Roy's warning words from the beginning of the night. She whipped around just in time to see her partner get shot in the arm.

Artemis stared unmoving at the words on her laptop. The clap of the gun. Roy falling backwards. Her final arrow at the final guard. Green Arrow showing up to take a badly bleeding Roy. A blur. And then home. Home to this skeletal essay and an anvil in her conscience.

She finally snapped her laptop shut and picked up the phone.

As soon as Roy muttered a greeting, Artemis began talking, her words tumbling out faster and faster. "Um, this is totally not my style, and don't think this is going to be a regular occurrence, but I just wanted to call and see how you're doing and tell you I'm really sorry, and even though I still think it's kind of your fault, it's still mainly mine, so yeah, um, sorry, and uh, how's the shoulder?"

There was a laugh followed by a cough from the other line, and Artemis bristled.

"This isn't funny!" she exclaimed.

Roy's chuckling only intensified, and continued for a few more seconds until he could finally speak.

"My fault?" he repeated.

"You let the other guy get away!"

"Oh, because my eyes are like a chameleon's and are able to travel autonomously!"

Artemis stammered. "Pfffffffffffffffft, soooo…" she waved her hand around and then finally deflated with a sigh. "Okay fine. I'm sorry. It was my fault. All of it." She paused, and could practically hear Roy's lips forming a stupid grin across his stupid face.

"Well," Roy began slowly, "we did stop the arms deal, and turned everyone involved to the police, so I still say mission accomplished."

"And your arm?"

"'Tis but a scratch!" Roy replied cheerfully.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should lay off the pain meds for a while."

"Monty Python not up your aisle?"

"Monty…what?"

There was a very sharp gasp on the other line. "You've never seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail?"

"Uh… is that a movie, or something?"

"One of these days I'll have to enlighten you."

Artemis thought Roy's comment about watching a movie together deviated extremely from the usual snarky snarls, but said nothing. Maybe it really was the narcotics talking. Truthfully though, she was enjoying their light-hearted conversation, especially after such a harrowing mission.

"Only if you have caramel popcorn though," she replied.

"Do you have something against the normal popcorn of the world?"

"Yeah. They don't taste as good."

"Huh. Noted. Do you just like everything caramel?"

What was going to be a terse exchange turned into a riot of stories and laughter. Finally, Artemis glanced at her bedside clock and noticed it was already past midnight. With a start, she realized she had just held the longest conversation with Roy in all of history, and she still had half an essay to finish.

"Hey, as much as I would love to keep talking about the pros and cons of moving to Russia to wrestle bears, I have an essay that's not going to write itself," Artemis explained, legitimately feeling apologetic.

"Oh shit I had no idea how late it is," Roy responded. "I guess time flies when you're nursing a bullet wound you got when your partner didn't follow orders and—"

"Okay!" Artemis interrupted with a laugh. "Time for me the hang up! Goodnight Roy."

Roy chuckled. "'Night Artemis," he replied, and then hung up the phone.

Artemis continued to listen to the silence on the other end until her smile fanned into a shrug. For once, talking to Roy didn't feel like swallowing poison; it felt like eating Pop Rocks while jumping on a trampoline. He also revealed himself to be the most interesting character she'd ever met. Soon after they talked about her preference of foods, he began regaling her with stories of his vigilante travels—from hiking volcanoes in Iceland to watching India turn into a rainbow during Holi, the Festival of Colors. Having never even left the state until she joined the Team, Artemis could only listen in enraptured silence with the occasional curious inquiry.

"If you don't get me shot again, maybe I'll kidnap you for my next international run," was the last thing Roy had said before she saw the clock and tied the conversation closed.

She shrugged again and opened her laptop. As much as she tried, she couldn't bring herself to fully regret her choices during tonight's mission. That night, after finally finishing her essay, she dreamed of hang-gliding with Roy over rainforests made of caramel popcorn. The next morning, she lay in bed with her eyes closed for a few seconds longer just to replay those dreams again.

Roy was running on the treadmill when his phone buzzed and the screen lit up with a particular teammate's name. Not breaking his stride, he wiped his hands on a nearby towel and unlocked his phone.

"I have patrol duty tonight and I get to pick my partner: either you or GA," said Artemis's message.

The edges of Roy's lips jumped upwards and his eyes glinted. After two months of hardly any contact with her as he healed from his wound, this felt like a fire-roasted marshmallow on a winter day. "Of course you're going to go for the more handsome option," he typed back.

"GA it is then!"

Roy laughed out loud and received a few raised eyebrows from the runners around him. "It's the goatee, isn't it?"

"That's just the tip of the iceberg."

He had to admit: he enjoyed her wit.

"Just kidding," Artemis continued. "Sparker. August 30th."

Roy dropped his phone into the pocket of his gym shorts and slowed the treadmill to a standstill. He ran the towel over his forehead and then tossed it over his shoulders. As per usual, there were multiple coy smiles from women (and men) in his direction as the sweat glistened across his bare arms and torso. Normally, he would return the favor with a polite nod of his head, but today he walked through the gym with his attention captured by thoughts of another fellow archer. Hint: she doesn't have a goatee.

Him despising Artemis was a misconception—pure urban legend. Sure, he was rather biting when she first joined the team, but he took any instinctual paranoia seriously, especially when his friends were involved. But secrets aside—kept for legitimate reasons, as he had later learned—Artemis reminded him of himself: passionate, protective, skilled, and undoubtedly attractive. She was a ring of fire, and a reign of fire. And here he was: a smoldering coal dancing with the light all around him.

He liked her—probably more than he realized.

Sparker was an abandoned propane warehouse in the middle of the most crime-ridden part of Star City. It was also Artemis's favorite place to go when she needed to boil some thoughts and blow off steam. After she knocked out her fifth criminal using nothing but her fist, Roy decided it was worth taking the chance of an uppercut to ask her what was eating her alive.

"Nothing," Artemis barked as she shoved the unconscious man to the ground.

Roy stepped in front of her and raised an eyebrow. He stared straight into her eyes, past the ivory, past the obsidian, and deep into the fire. She glittered back with irritation, but finally released her glare into a sigh.

"Parent problems," she grumbled as she turned away and continued walking down the pier. "Not sure if it's worth your time."

Roy paused. He was privy to more facts about her than she believed. For instance, he knew she wasn't Oliver's niece, nor did she reside in Central City. He was also aware of her family and their magnetism towards the sullied, but she didn't know he knew. But he could tell she wanted someone to talk to, and maybe provide some comforting advice. He followed her, and rapidly mulled over the next course of action. In front of him, Artemis had stopped walking and was now gazing across the water. Roy took a deep breath, and reached his arm out, but before he could give her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, his com pinged. He inwardly swore and retracted his hand.

"Yeah?" he replied, and then after a few seconds of his brow furrowing, he nodded. "I'll be there."

He turned to Artemis apologetically but she just waved.

"Look, I can still stay," Roy offered.

"I'll be fine," she answered, looking at the bridge and its moving lights. "Probably head home soon anyway…"

Roy nodded, and walked away. He turned around once, and she was still staring out into the water like a huntress transfixed by something unattainable. As he ran towards his motorcycle, he made a mental promise to call her later that night.

Roy stepped out of the shower and hastily shook the water droplets from his hair. He wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed his phone.

Artemis answered even before the first ring was finished.

"Isn't this a surprise," she began. "And I didn't even need to get shot." Despite her upbeat comment, her voice sounded tired.

He rolled his eyes and walked into his living room, hardly registering the cold air on his damp skin. "I just wanted to apologize for the interruption—"

"Nah it's fine. It happens. Everything go okay?"

"Actually, I was calling to see if you're okay."

"Peeeeachy. Like a cobbler."

He snorted. "Wow, you really need to work on your acting skills."

"So I'm told. As I said, really stupid parent-stuff. Totally not as fun as listening to your adventures in Africa and the poachers. Maybe you should uh, continue that story, yeah?"

"Nice try. I'm not changing the subject until you're feeling better." He sat down on his couch and waited for her answer.

"Well, isn't that odd. Since when did you care about my emotional stability?" Her tone was nothing short of snappy.

"When you became my partner." He wanted to add "friend" and "possible crush", but he wasn't capable of surviving rock-slides just yet.

There was an audible grown, but with a hint of a chuckle. "You're really stubborn."

"And you really to vent."

"I already did. I took down two more after you left."

"But did that really make you feel better?"

"A little."

Roy inhaled deeply and leaned forward. "Look, I'm not forcing you to do or say anything you don't want… but I don't want whatever is eating you up to ever reach the point where it'll put you in danger. So just know I'm here for you if you need someone to listen while withholding judgment."

There was a long pause, and he could practically hear the acerbic comments churning their cogs in her mind. After a while, he was almost afraid she had hung up the phone.

"Fine," Artemis finally replied. She inhaled and exhaled loudly. "It's kind of a doozy so I hope you have a chamber pot nearby or something." Roy laughed, and she continued, "Um, I just... sometimes hate living here, with all the…constant pressures to be someone I'm not. My parents they, uh, have opposing views as to who I should be and what I should do, and it gets really frustrating. The vigilante stuff doesn't help. Actually, it's kind of always the cause of every argument. And, I dunno, I really want to make my mom proud, you know? " Her voice got softer; smaller. "And I'm trying, but sometimes it just never seems enough, especially with every goal I achieve, she just worries more…"

Artemis continued, swimming deeper and deeper into her ocean of lonely thoughts. Sometimes she backtracked, and sometimes she repeated a few things over and over. Everything indicated this was the first time she had spoken about the specters in her mind in a very long time. Roy traveled along in a one-man submarine, and as the waters got darker, his fondness for his mermaid companion grew stronger. He never fully understood how much more human than goddess of the moon she was, until now.

"Sounds awful," he responded when they finally resurfaced. "So what are you going to do?"

There was long bubble of silence. "Nothing, I guess. Just continue doing everything I'm doing now, since it's—this—is who I am."

He couldn't help but chuckle—both from relief at how conclusive she sounded, and at her cheesy answer. He relaxed and spread an arm over the back of the couch, but something about the action seemed empty when Artemis was only present through sound waves, so he lowered his arm back to his side. "If you need more excuses to get out of the house and pummel a few more people, you can always use me."

"Like, use, use you? Because in that case—"

"Wait! That came out wr—wait, what? Use me? As bad-guy-target-practice again?"

"Wow, are you ever going to let that go."

He laughed again and scooped a couch pillow to his chest. It was great to hear the cheer and usual snark return to her voice.

Later that night, after another long conversation where time relinquished its governance, Roy lay awake through jumping sheep and stars. There was finally something happening in his life that was both so exciting and uncontrollable that his thoughts couldn't find any somnolent lullabies for his nerves. He prided himself in solving mysteries, and Artemis definitely mystified him much more than any riddle.

Batman called for a Team mission the next day, and Roy joined. When questioned by a gleefully surprised Robin and Kid Flash, he told them it was because he had nothing else to do. The truth was actually the tug of his figurative bow-strings by another archer.

They stood side by side during the debriefing session, but neither spoke to the other. Their only motion of recognition was a brief sidelong glance when Batman mentioned the need for certain members to stay on a vantage point to provide covert fire-power. Roy raised an eyebrow at Artemis, and she glared back.

The rest of the mission continued with curt silence between the two archers. They were assigned together on the roof to provide the rest of the team cover, but even then no words of mouth or body language were exchanged. It was as if none of their previous conversations or shared experiences had ever happened—but it was a silent and mutual understanding. Perhaps both of them wished to keep their friendship a secret, and perhaps it was fueled by the wish of more.

To Batman's stoic approval, the Team actually performed this reconnaissance mission to his standards of "covert"—nothing exploded; and they went in and out without a trace. To celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime occasion, the Team changed into their civilian clothes and headed for a 24/7 diner.

Artemis sat herself across from Roy, and the two exchanged a cursory glance before looking away. She saw him look down with busy fingers, and soon her phone vibrated. Resisting the urge to smirk at him, she slid the menu to her lap and pulled out her phone.

"We really put the cover in covert," read Roy's message.

Artemis inwardly groaned and covered her mouth to hide her exasperated grin.

"Roy shut-up," she responded.

"Time to turn the mission to missiOFF."

"This is all GA's doing isn't it"

"Why was the archer so good at sea?"

"No. Stop"

"Because he had a lot of arROW's!"

"That one was really lame"

"Admit it, you laughed on the inside"

"If I do will you stop it with the stupid puns"

"No promises"

"Artemis," cooed a honey voice. She looked up and saw Robin waggling his eyebrows at her. "Whatchu doing down there?"

"Playing with my dick," she riposted. Next to her, Wally started choking on his soda.

"Is that what you're doing too, Roy?" Robin continued, unfazed and clearly up to some devilish behavior.

"Nah," Roy replied. "Her dick isn't that long."

And that's when Wally completely lost it and toppled backwards from his chair.

"Are you doing anything tonight?"

The message flashed on Artemis's phone right when the dismissal bell rang. She remained rooted to her chair even as the teacher yelled out last-minute rules to the weekend assignment over the din of flapping and fluttering students rushing out of the room.

"No. Name and date?" she asked, puzzling over why he didn't just send the code first.

"Come outside."

Artemis's eyebrows twitched upwards in surprise, and her heartbeat immediately took off on an Olympic's dash. She didn't even question how he knew she went to Gotham Academy, and instead just wanted to run through the hallway like a giggling school-girl (wait, she actually did fit the description right now though). Instead, she forced herself to go through the methodic routine of going to her locker, emptying out her books, and repacking the ones for the weekend. At last, she finally and calmly walked out the front doors.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but the sight in front of her was a complete surprise.

Leaning against a blazing red Corvette with the top down was Roy Harper, dressed in dark jeans and a white t-shirt that did nothing to hide his broad shoulders, pronounced pectoral muscles, and the extremely muscular arms only an archer could master. There were many sidelong glances from admiring passerby, but Roy only had eyes for the young woman walking up to him with a smile of disbelief.

Artemis nodded at the car. "Compensating for something?"

"Yeah," Roy replied, and held up a DVD of Monty Python and the Holy Grail along with a tin of caramel popcorn, "I'm missing a movie-night partner."

Artemis crossed her arms and fixed him with a flirty stare. "Is this a date?"

"Only if you say yes first."

"Conning me, I see."

"You still haven't answered the question yet."

Artemis stepped closer to him and looked up into his eyes. They were covered with shades, but she could still see china blues. She inhaled in the scent of pinecones and cinnamon and something else that brought to mind rainstorms and the Milky Way. It smelled like the dreams where she could fly—dreams of diving and gliding and zip-lining over city lights. She took another step closer, and sparks danced up and down her skin. Her breath quickened, and before her heart could explode into a thunderstorm, she closed the vibrating space between them and kissed him on the lips.

It was like lightning striking an outstretched tree. Everything flashed and ignited all at once. Roy immediately brought his arms around her, DVD and popcorn and all. When they finally pulled apart, he breathlessly smiled at her. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment."

Artemis looked up at him with half-lidded eyes and a luminous smile. "You felt it too?"

Roy's eyes were soft and full of longing. "I couldn't stop feeling it."

"And I didn't even need a Masterball."

Roy laughed, remembering the conversation that had started everything. Of all the shots had taken, of all the arrows he's ever released, that was the one that hit the truest target.

He stepped aside and opened the passenger-side door for her, and closed it gently after she slipped in. He walked around the car, and in one fluid and clearly well-rehearsed movement, leapt over the driver's door and into his seat. Beside him, Artemis snorted. He smiled at her and revved the engine, and the two drove off, hardly noticing a certain blue-eyed raven-haired freshman snapping photos at their retreating tail-lights.

That was probably a sign of trouble, but definitely nothing compared to a fellow teammate asking for your number.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to leave a review if you so choose!