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youngjusticeslut · 5 years

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And They Were Roommates (Chapter 6)

Fandom: Young Justice Links: FF.net // AO3 Characters: Artemis Crock, Dick Grayson, Lian Harper, Roy Will Harper, Jade Nguyen Ships: RedCat Summary: While Jade and Roy were out on their date, Artemis babysits her niece. Rating: T Word Count: 2545 Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters.

Babysitting wasn't so hard.

Artemis had never seen herself as a motherly person, by any definition of the word. Really, she hadn't given kids much thought at all before her and Wally had gotten together. Even then, they'd both known it was a long way off. Aside from a couple comments on how cute their future offspring would be, they hadn't even discussed it. She knew Wally had wanted kids, someday, and she'd accepted it.

There had been a short period of time, in the weeks after his ceasing, that Artemis bought a bag full of pregnancy tests. Just in case. Zatanna had found her once, crying on the floor of the bathroom with three negative tests all around her, insisting that now she had nothing. Not exactly a highlight of her summer. At the time, having Wally's baby seemed like the perfect way to remember him by. Looking back, she wanted to shake herself for being so illogical. With him gone, the only kids in her future would be the pre-teenage kind; 'mentor' sounded a whole lot more appealing than 'mother'.

Still, there was something about Lian that was so easy. An adjective she never would have guessed would be used to describe any offspring of her sister's. Upon first learning about Lian, Artemis could only imagine the little terror she would grow up to become. She never would have expected her to turn out to be such a sweet little thing.

Artemis wasn't sure if it was genetics, the parenting, or sheer luck; all three bore equal chances as to how her niece turned out.

"Boosey," Lian insisted, clapping her hands and trying to scoot closer to the dog. When he heard his name, Brucely wagged his tail for a quick moment. Upon realizing that it was his new torturer, he scampered away to the kitchen. Artemis couldn't help but laugh at the disappointment on Lian's face, smoothing back her hair.

"I told you, Babe, he doesn't forgive easy. You pulled his tail one too many times."

"Boosey!"

"Who needs Brucely when you have your cool aunt Artemis?" she asked, picking up Lian and holding her over her head, making her fly. That quickly eliminated any displeasure on the baby's face, instead morphing into utter glee.

Artemis laughed again, making her niece fly for a few moments before setting her down in front of her toys. "What do you suppose Mama and Daddy are up to?" she asked, handing Lian a couple of blocks. The blocks fascinated her enough to miss Artemis' question, thus no answer.

It was a wonder Jade had agreed to go out with Roy at all. Artemis could only imagine how terrible the night would go. "It's going to go one of two ways, Lian," she explained, helping her build a block tower. "Either your Mama and Daddy are going to fight, or they're going to have sex. You know what that means?"

Lian ignored her, knocking down the block tower and cheering in delight.

"It means," Artemis said, building up the tower once again, "that either way, I'm going to end up with a headache. But between you and me, I think I'd prefer the sex," she muttered.

The baby nodded thoughtfully. "Sex," she repeated, picking up a block and trying to place it at the top of the small tower.

Artemis' eyes widened and she balked, unsure of what to say. Her first thought was that Roy was going to kill her. The immediate afterthought was that she didn't care, because this was hilarious. "We're going to keep this little development between the both of us, cool?" she asked.

In response, Lian knocked down the tower again; it was close enough to an agreement.

They played together for a while, building block towers and tossing different toys around. At some point, Lian started to stick everything in her mouth so Artemis gave her a pacifier. All in all, Lian was a very low-maintenance baby; it was no wonder how Jade got along with her so well.

Around nine, Artemis' phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, her stomach sinking when she saw the name on the text. While part of her, the weaker part, told her to ignore it, she couldn't. Artemis hadn't heard from him since the funeral. Her fingers were clumsy as she dialed him, praying that he wouldn't send yet another one of her calls to voicemail.

Luck was on her side, today.

"You're in Gotham?"

"Promised Tim a visit. Thought I'd see if you were around."

Artemis smiled, curling her legs underneath her and handing Lian one of her toy trucks. "No such luck, Grayson. Thought the world's greatest detective would know that."

"He's been a little off his game lately. Where are you?"

"Long Beach."

"Working on your tan?"

She scoffed. "Not quite. I'm babysitting."

"I hope the kid is cute, at least."

"The cutest." Lian squealed in discontent as Artemis ignored the rattling toy she tried to give her. Her aunt mouthed an apology and took the toy, shaking it and bopping her on the head. "I'm watching my niece."

Dick hummed on the other end. "I was wondering why Cheshire had gone quiet." There was no judgement in Dick's voice. Her other friends, they either wouldn't ask, or there would be a note of discontent in their voices when they did. Everyone who met Lian loved her. It was just her parents' relationship they disapproved of. "She and Roy still trying to make things work?"

"They're on a date. God only knows what kind of trouble they're getting up to."

"Want some company?"

"Maybe not tonight. Lian's being very insistent for her aunt's full attention," Artemis said, pulling her niece onto her lap and cuddling her. "But soon. I want to see you."

"Miss me?"

"More than you know, Batboy. Have you finally come out of hiding?"

Dick laughed, but it was forced. "You could say that. Fancy a trip to the east coast next week?"

"You mean you don't want to experience the California sun?"

"Thought we could go to Bibbo's. Like old times."

It took a second for Artemis to come up with a response. Her, Wally and Dick had spent far too many evenings at Bibbo's, gorging on milkshakes and french fries, pretending to study but doing anything but. The team had used to go, too. They would order one of everything on the menu and Wally would eat anything they didn't finish. It would never be like old times.

"Maybe not Bibbo's," Dick said to her silence. "Pizza?"

"Yeah, Pizza works," she sighed, holding Lian closer to her chest. She was so lucky that she was too young for heartache. "I just want to see you."

"I want to see you too, 'Mis. Talk soon, okay?"

"You got it, Dick."

Artemis was never, ever going to let them live this down. Not long after she finished her conversation with Dick, she spied the ever telling flash of blue and red lights. At first she hadn't looked outside, figuring it was just a drug-bust, or some overzealous teenagers getting caught. The aching urge to spy took over and she finally opened the balcony door to observe.

The sight of Jade and Roy, barely clothed and in handcuffs was something she was never going to forget. It didn't take five minutes before she was down there, planning to do some damage control.

"Well look at what we have here," Artemis simpered, smirking at her sister and brother-in-law. "I thought you said she was kidding, Roy."

"Miss, this is a private matter. I suggest you take yourself elsewhere," the policeman urged, nodding towards the street.

"I'm their family. You mind telling me what they're being charged with?" Artemis asked, turning her gaze to Jade who looked far too comfortable for her liking.

"Indecent exposure. Having sex in public is a misdemeanor, Ma'am." Artemis' eyes narrowed at her two roommates. On the one hand, she couldn't believe that they were stupid enough as to do this; on the other, she wasn't surprised in the least.

Jade rolled her eyes. "We don't need your help, Sis. I was handling it just fine," she insisted in Vietnamese, only to be shoved by Roy, who was nearly as red as his hair.

"Just get us out of here. I'm cold and this is embarrassing," he muttered back, his Vietnamese not nearly as polished as his wife's.

"Really?" Jade cocked her head to the side. "More embarrassing than the time you-"

"Shut up, Jade. For the love of whatever is up there, I'm begging you."

Artemis shook her head before looking to the officer. He was young and a little naive looking; this wouldn't be too hard to get out of. She'd managed to get out of worse. "Right. Well, as you can see, these two are tourists," she explained, rocking Lian's stroller back and forth when she felt her shifting. The last thing they all needed was for her to wake up and start screaming. "They didn't know what they were doing."

"Tourists?" the officer frowned, glancing at Jade, who grinned, and then Roy. "The both of them?"

"That's a little racist, don't you think?" Artemis asked, turning her glare on the officer. "They're visiting me from Vietnam. These two idiots didn't know any better."

"I'll need to see their passports," the policeman said, wavering a bit when Jade winked at him.

"Look, Officer, I'll be honest with you," Artemis began, leaning against the stroller. "This can go one of two ways. You can wait here for me to get their passports, arrest them, and take them to court. But I assure you, this trial won't be as cut and dry as you think."

"Are you threatening me?" the policeman asked, narrowing his eyes.

Artemis held up her hands. "Not at all, Sir. I'm just saying, you don't seem to have a lot of evidence. Are you sure you caught them having sex?"

"They were in the water, Ma'am."

"Yes, but they still have their underwear on," she said, nodding to the two.

"Not by choice," Jade piped up. "Roy was being so awfully slow."

"Shut up, Jade."

Artemis pretended to listen to them before looking back at the policeman. "They were intending on going skinny dipping and got carried away. How can I be sure that you're not prejudicing against them because they're foreign?"

"Well, I-"

"Look, I don't want a case, and I'm pretty sure you don't. So why don't you let these two off with a warning and let the embarrassment of being caught be enough of a punishment?" Artemis concluded before nodding to the baby in the stroller. "If not for them, do it for their poor child, who has to live with these idiots."

"I can't just let them go-"

"If you need a crime to bust, I heard a scuffle coming in that direction," she said, gesturing to the busy street.

The policeman looked between Artemis to Jade and Roy before he finally sighed and moved to uncuff them. "A warning," he agreed. "Make sure they're well versed on the law here in America. Next time, they won't be so lucky."

"I assure you, there won't be a next time," Artemis promised.

Jade grinned as she was uncuffed, drinking in the young policeman without hesitation. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'd get in all kinds of trouble just to see him again," she purred, still in Vietnamese.

"No, you won't," Roy growled, rubbing his wrists and trying to locate his pants.

Once the policeman was out of sight, Artemis glared at the two. "I can't believe you let yourselves be caught. Really, don't you two know any better?"

Jade shrugged. "We've never been caught before. I thought it would be kinky."

Her husband immediately whirled on her, blue eyes wide. "You knew?"

"Of course. Did you really think that I didn't know a rent-a-cop was sneaking up on us. I'm more surprised that you didn't know."

Artemis snickered. "She has a point. No wonder the Shadows found you out." She could tell that Roy was about to explode, so she shushed him before he could, nodding to Lian who was still miraculously asleep. "Wouldn't want to wake the baby, now would you?"

"Well, that was fun. It was nice to speak Vietnamese for a bit," Jade mused, slipping into her clothes far too easily. "You should really work on yours, Red. Your pronunciation is atrocious."

"You're awfully calm for someone who almost just got arrested. What would have happened if they found you out, Jade?" Artemis scolded, pushing the stroller back to the apartment once the two were dressed. "There are hotels for a reason, you know."

"We weren't thinking," Roy muttered. "It won't happen again."

"Right, like I believe that. Please, next time, be a little more careful. I had to drag your baby out here, and it's chilly, and she could get sick," Artemis continued. "If this had gone any further, I probably would have had to get Ollie involved, and we all know how that would have turned out. So next time you guys are feeling kinky, try a sex shop," she muttered, turning to look at them.

But they were gone.

"For fuck's sake," she muttered, shaking her head as she entered the lobby of the apartment. Still, she wasn't surprised. At least she didn't have to worry about their thwarted sexcapade taking place in the room next to hers. "Your parents suck," she said to her sleeping niece as they entered the elevator.

Still, at least they seemed to be getting along better. It would make meals a lot more enjoyable; before she could cut the tension between them with a knife. Hopefully this was the start of the two of them working out their issues.

She exited the elevator and rolled the stroller towards the apartment, looking forward to nothing more than a quiet night of Netflix and wine. Instead, Artemis was greeted with a folded paper on the door. She raised a brow and opened it.

Thanks for the breakout, Sis. Door will be unlocked before midnight.

"No. No, this is not happening," Artemis growled, banging on the door. "Jade! Jade, I swear to god, you better open this door right fucking now," she growled, reaching in her pocket for her key. But it was gone. She swore she heard a chuckle from inside the apartment, followed by a concerning amount of banging.

Artemis groaned, sliding down the wall and banging the door for good measure, pulling out her phone again. "Correction, Lian. Your parents are the fucking worst."

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