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Title: Sweet Transvestite 2/2 (Part 1)
Author: kat8cha
Fandom: Young Justice Cartoon
Pairings: Light Roy/Wally, Roy/Miss Martian, hints of Roy/Superboy, Roy/Aqualad
Disclaimer: I don't own YJ at all.
Summary: Roy is cursed with the body of a girl, he makes use of it to join Young Justice as Artemis
Warnings: Badly handles issues of transgenderism
A/N: Started Pre-Artemis introduction for this prompt at the YJ anon meme.
If Roy ever decided to go evil, and we're not talking Take Over The World evil he was thinking more 'rob a few banks' evil, the first thing Roy would do was scope out the town he was planning on setting up in for superheroes. The *smart* thing for a troupe of new bank robbers to do would be to hit a few banks in a few small towns before even thinking about approaching a town with a superhero in it.
"Who's that?!" One of the masked robbers shouted just before Roy's 'one-punch' arrow clocked him in the side of the head. (It wasn't a boxing glove arrow, alright, it was just weighted to K.O. the opponent and 'K.O. arrow' sounded silly.)
"It's Green Arrow!" Shouted another before his hand was pinned to the woodwork by an arrow with an actual arrowhead. His gun dropped to the floor and Roy would have flinched at the clatter if he hadn't been dead sure that the gunman hadn't flicked the safety off. "Wait, that's not…" The robber tugged at his hand and sobbed a little.
"Smoke him!" Shouted the guy who was probably in charge. Roy couldn't keep track, the gang was disorganized. Not like it mattered, it wasn't like he was just going to let these amateurs shoot him.
Of course it helped when the gunmen found themselves disarmed and all shoved into a group.
In a flash.
Roy let loose a grappling arrow and waited with the shouting squirming soon to be convicts while the bank security guards took their sweet time making their way over. After he'd handed over the robbers Roy made his escape. He might not have been Batman (or Robin) and this might not have been Gotham but it also wasn't Metropolis and Roy wasn't Superman. In Star City you didn't stick around and talk to the cops.
"Not a talker, huh?" Kid Flash munched on a half peeled banana. "The Flash ALWAYS sticks around and chats up the police. I think he secretly enjoys being late for everything."
"When you're the fastest man alive being late is probably a luxury." Roy kept walking, he knew Wally would have no trouble keeping up. "Did you want something?"
The banana was finished and the peel had disappeared (a small part of Roy hoped it had been composted but knew better) and Kid Flash was now waving his empty hands around like he needed to keep them moving but didn't have anything useful to do. That should have tipped Roy off that something was up, but he was in the middle of pulling himself up a fire escape and continuing his homeward trek over the rooftops of Star City. He might not have been a Bat, but when he was in costume he didn't like to be on the ground. Being on top of a building gave you an edge when you were an archer anyway.
"See, it's like this." Kid Flash started, stopped, started again. "I was just wondering, um, if you had any advice."
"On what?" Roy glanced at his watch. KF must have rushed right over once his school let out, it was barely four. Which meant Roy had three hours before Ollie would be home, that was plenty of time for Roy to deal with Kid Flash's issues, right? And Roy really wanted a change and a shower, fighting crime under a hot California sun? Not fun.
"On girls." Roy glanced from his watch up at Kid Flash's beat red face. "You know, in general." Roy was pretty sure he'd never seen someone turn so red they were practically purple unless they were being asphyxiated. "Specifically Artemis."
This might take a while, Roy thought.
"This might take a while." Roy said out-loud. "Why don't we head to my place so I can grab a change and then we'll-" Roy wasn't terribly surprised when Kid Flash zipped off then reappeared with a duffel bag. "Well, I was going to lend you some civvies" The flush that had disappeared reappeared. Roy shrugged. "C'mon, I need a shower."
The walk was surprisingly fast. Once they ran out of buildings to walk on top of (and they eventually did, Ollie lived out in the suburbs) Roy dropped onto the sidewalk and took inconspicuous lesser known routes in order to get to the woods that ended in Ollie's backyard. He figured he could have taken Wally into the Arrow Cave (that was the stupidest name ever for the place and Roy felt embarrassed whenever he talked about it) but he hated the showers down there. They all smelled like limestone. "You can change into your clothes in my room." Roy said, not unkindly shoving Kid Flash up the stairs and towards his room. He didn't want Wally poking around too much but he didn't want to seem like he was hiding anything. It's not like Green Arrow's secret identity wasn't more of an open secret identity.
That damn beard.
Once he had the door closed behind Wally Roy stripped off his gear and headed for a quick but much needed shower. It was only when he had shampoo in his hair and his head under the shower-head that he realized that Wally might get curious.
And poke around his room.
And possibly get so curious he looked under the bed.
And opened up the black trunk in there.
And saw…
Well. It's not like Roy couldn't come up with a lie for why he had Artemis' clothes, right? He could say they were a spare. Green Arrow needed to store them. Artemis gave the set to him to keep hidden, just in case… uh… He could lie about it. Probably.
Which was why he cut his shower short and briskly toweled off. He didn't even bother to shrug on the red boxer briefs from his uniform (they needed to be washed anyway) he just wrapped a towel around his waist and left wet footprints down the hallway as he padded to his room.
"You're taking geology?" Wally asked, flipping through Roy's homework. "Cool, we don't get science electives until like, junior year. It seems so far away." Almost quicker than Roy could catch Wally's eyes flickered to his bare torso. Not quite quick enough that Roy didn't notice.
"I am a senior." Roy walked to his dresser and poked around his open dresser drawers. He could be a mess when he wanted to be and well... he didn't have a lot of friends that he needed to worry about cleaning up for. "And it was either geology or biology two. I almost failed out of bio one so…" Roy pulled out a shirt that was basically clean and tugged it on, then he grabbed a pair of loose jeans and pulled them up his hips before ditching the towel. It wasn't like he was uncomfortable with dressing in front of another guy it was just…
Okay, with the weight of Kid Flash's gaze resting between his shoulder blades, Roy could admit he was a little uncomfortable with it. He was less uncomfortable with going commando just to avoid having to put on underwear in front of KF.
"Did you really?" Kid Flash flipped through a few more or Roy's text books. The computer science one, the math one, Roy noted that the younger redhead stayed away from the literature books. "I like Chemistry better but Biology really isn't that hard."
"I'm not a fan of dissection." That and the fact that he'd bullshitted his way through his science fair project were the reason Roy had almost had to repeat Bio 1. Roy took a seat on his bed and shifted, the jeans were clinging slightly to his still damp ass. "You didn't run cross-country just to talk to me about my classwork."
"No…" Kid Flash spun around in Roy's computer chair, it was like he couldn't be still for longer than a minute. "Um, about Artemis. Does she ever… does she talk about-" Roy substituted 'me' for whatever Wally said next, "the team?"
"I don't talk to her a lot." Roy scooted back so his legs dangled off the bed and his back was to the wall. "She's G.A.'s niece, she doesn't even see him that often. But she says you guys aren't half-bad."
Kid Flash spun around slightly slower this time, the expression on his face definitely downcast. Roy almost, almost, felt bad about it.
"So she doesn't…" Kid Flash's face drooped even more. If faces were cheese pizzas, Wally's would be the kind of cheese pizza that had been tipped over while still hot. "I mean, I've been trying really hard…"
Roy felt a headache building. "She doesn't really mind your flirting." Oh god, what was he saying?! "Although she would appreciate if you showed her and Miss Martian more respect." That was more like it, Roy, turn him down gently, but still turn him down. "She even said she thought you were a little cute."
No! Abort! Abort!
Roy almost felt the need to comically smack his hands over his face. What had he said? Why had he said it? What was wrong with him?
Okay, he could admit Kid Flash was cute. Masculine, a boy but… cute. He had that red hair, the kind of red-orange that always looked ridiculous and clashed with everything, and freckles that dotted his nose and cheeks and peeked out from under his collar. It was… cute. Cute like an over-eager puppy. Maybe.
"Really?" Kid Flash perked up, exactly like an over-eager puppy. "She said I was cute?"
"A little cute." Roy backpedalled rapidly. The last thing he needed was Wally getting even more flirtatious with him when he was a girl. "Like…"
Wally hugged Roy, rapidly and tightly, then let go and beamed at Roy. "She said I was cute!"
The door to Roy's room hit the wall with a BANG as did all the doors Wally threw open as he rushed out of the house. Roy was left, winded and windblown, on his bed, wondering just how he was going to screw over his life tomorrow.
--
'Do you think I should tell them?' Roy asked, crouched on the branch of a tree. He was watching a small sunlit clearing with a red flag in the center. So far no one had approached the spot that Roy and Megan had picked to hide their flag, but Roy wasn't about to take his eyes off the waving red prize. M'gann was flying above the forest on the hunt for Kaldur and Superboy's flag. Robin and Kid Flash were the real danger Superboy would be too loud to risk as the capture team, so he would probably be guarding the flag, Kaldur wouldn't be quite as dangerous to face off against as Kid Flash, and if they got Superboy and Kaldur's flag first they had the upper hand.
Playing three pronged Capture the Flag wasn't really training in Roy's mind but that's what Young Justice had been set to do today. At least Roy knew that the Justice League also played Capture the Flag now and then.
(He was pretty sure Ollie had lied about the potato sack races, but Black Canary and Green Lantern had backed him up on playing Capture the Flag.)
'I think it's your choice.' Megan responded. The leaves rustled in the trees on the other side of the clearing and Roy knocked an arrow carefully. 'I don't understand what the big deal is anyway.'
A bird flew out of the tree and up into the sun and Roy relaxed. 'I don't know what gender and sexuality is like on Mars…' Roy shifted restlessly. Waiting with something essential to archery, and Roy had learned how to wait with the best of them, but he didn't have to like it. Patience wasn't something he was known for, after all. It wasn't something that Green Arrow had been known for either, so one or the other of them had always been rushing in before they should and would eventually need to be rescued by the other. 'On Earth it can get really… complicated.'
'I found Superboy and his flag!' Megan's voice rung cheerfully through Roy's head, he grinned slightly. 'Oh, does this mean I must now 'take him out'?'
'If you can, Miss M.'
Okay, so Superboy was with his flag, which meant it would be Aqualad sheeeeeeeee- he was looking out for. Roy shifted in his spot on the tree branch and…
Was that a spot of red she spotted across the clearing? Artemis grinned and released an arrow, unsurprised when Robin rolled out of the tree line, narrowly dodging her arrow but exposing herself. He was also racing for her flag.
Artemis dropped out of the tree and fired off another arrow on her way down, already knocking another arrow as she raced towards the flag. No way in hell was Robin going to get there first…
They both reached the flag at the same time, Robin reaching out to grab it, Artemis with an arrow pressed underneath his chin. Robin swallowed; if he'd been a little older his Adam's apple might have been bobbing pressed against the blunt end of her arrow. "So, I guess this is what they call a stalemate."
"Stalemate?" Artemis raised her, Roy raised his eyebrows behind his mask. "Sooner or later I'm going to have to let this arrow go, and you're either going to dodge or end up with a crushed windpipe. I'm pretty sure that's called me winning."
"You wouldn't really crush my windpipe, would you?" If he hadn't been wearing a mask Robin would probably have been fluttering his eyes at Roy. As it was he was smiling winningly and trying his damnedest to look cute while still reaching for the flag.
"Not another inch." Artemis bumped Robin under his chin with the arrow. Sure, Roy wouldn't actually let it fly… well, not this close anyway, that would be dangerous. "Also, I hope you know you've lost."
"What?" Robin scowled. He'd probably blinked too. "Just because you have me at arrow point doesn't mean I lost."
Roy grinned. This was the best part, he'd lost and he didn't realize it yet. "Since you're here, Kid Flash is either guarding the flag or heading for Superboy and Aqualad's. Since I doubt he'd actually agree to stay still, he's heading for Superboy and Aqualad's flag, which is where my teammate is."
The instant the realization hit Roy could see it. Robin's eyes widened and he stepped back from her flag, letting Artemis drop his bow and arrow and relax for a second. Roy still kept an eye on Robin as he pressed a finger to trigger his ear comm. "KF? KF! Please tell me you didn't-" The scowl was cute, but one of these days it was going to give him wrinkles. Serious wrinkles. Unless Daddy Bats had wrinkle cream?
"I don't care if she used her feminine whiles! No, I don't! Artemis is guarding it! Get back to our flag before-"
'I got them both!' Miss Martian cheered telepathically. Roy was sure his smile was brighter than the sun.
'Hurry back, fly high and silent Miss. M. We're going to win this.
--
They didn't, in fact, win it. Aqualad had been lying in wait for Miss Martian and intercepted her on the flight back. Superboy, who had been given instructions from Aqualad in case the flag was taken from them, jumped over to where Artemis and Robin were. The crater and shaking Superboy's landing created caused Robin and Artemis to fall over. By the time they had regained their footing Superboy had stolen the flag and jumped away.
So, officially, they lost.
"It was cheating!" Kid Flash proclaimed, slumped on the couch while the credits for Megan's favorite sitcom rolled and the preview for next week showed. "Feminine whiles are totally cheating."
"Black Canary wouldn't say so." Artemis stated with a snort, Roy flipped his long blonde hair over his shoulder. "She uses her 'feminine whiles' to distract bad guys all the time."
"Does it count as feminine whiles when it's a hero?" Robin questioned, popping a few pieces of popcorn absentmindedly into his mouth. "Catwoman is always using 'feminine whiles' on Batman, I'm pretty sure that it's a villain thing."
"HA!" Kid Flash pointed a finger at Miss Martian. "Cheater."
Miss Martian was looking confused, as was Superboy, and Aqualad seemed to be staying out of the argument, so Artemis slapped Wally's hand down. "Yeah, well if it was cheating when Miss M asked you for the flag then it was definitely cheating when Superboy asked her not to steal it. He used masculine whiles." The show was over and it was getting late. "Implying that feminine whiles are the only whiles there are and that they're evil is sexist and heterocentric and obviously shows you've been brainwashed by the patriarchal forces that control our country!"
OH GOD. BEING A GIRL WAS TURNING HIM INTO OLLIE.
Everyone sat on the couch in stunned silence, Roy only realizing belatedly that he had jumped off the couch to deliver his rant. "…it's late." Roy crossed his arms over his chest and glanced around the room, pantently uncomfortable. "I think I'm going to go to bed." With that parting remark Roy stomped off to his room, leaving several stunned teammates behind.
"What are feminine whiles?" He heard Superboy question, after he was out of the room. It was followed by the faint echoes of a chorus of groans, so at least his team felt as crappy as he did.
--
His room was dark and quiet, but Roy wasn't a heavy sleeper unless he was safe at Ollie's, so the sound of the door opening had Roy sliding his eyes open and groping under his pillow for a crossbow that wasn't there. Of course he wouldn't sleep with a crossbow while at mount justice… There weren't any footsteps but there was definitely another presence in the room with him. Roy rolled over onto his back and wasn't terribly surprised to see Miss Martian's body silhouetted by the low-level light that hedged all the doors in Mount Justice.
"Hey…" Roy rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Hey, Miss M. What's up?"
"I'm sorry." Miss Martian folded her hands together one way, then another, then she threaded her fingers together and flexed them. "I was just… you seemed upset, Artemis, earlier, about the whiles."
Roy pulled himself out of bed and didn't even think about checking the magic belt; he could feel it digging into his hips. "Let's take a walk." He pulled on a bathrobe and some slippers and motioned for Megan to follow him.
They walked quietly through the Mount Justice hallways. No doors opened and Roy noted that Red Tornado seemed to be… sleeping? Hibernating? Plugged in? Whatever he was doing, he didn't pay the two girls any heed, and they both walked out of Mount Justice with the computer's announcement of their departure sounding strangely echoed in the empty hallways. Artemis took a deep breath of the cool, crisp night air and pulled his bathrobe tighter around him. It was starting to get chilly now, Fall was creeping up everywhere, even Mount Justice.
"How far do you think we have to be before Superboy can't hear us?" Artemis asked jokingly, then shrugged when Miss Martian tilted her head quizzically. "Never mind. I just… it's sort of private."
'Would you rather we talked like this?' Miss Martian questioned in his head. Roy shook it and rubbed at his ear, as if that would dispel the ringing.
"No, I think it's something I have to voice, talk out, you know?" Megan continued to look vaguely confused and Roy was really feeling the culture gap at this point. He decided to skip talking about 'talking things out' and headed straight for sexuality.
Yeah, like that was going to be an easier topic to tackle.
"On Mars… you have guys and girls, right?" Miss Martian nodded, "And you were born female?" Roy was thankful that Miss Martian nodded against because really how do you describe female? The one who carries the eggs? Probably… "And you think of yourself as a woman."
Miss Martian's nod was a little more hesitant this time. They kept walking, Roy's slippers making soft sounds as it crushed grass, Miss Martian making almost no noise at all as she walked.
"Okay, well, that's called being cisgendered. You're born with the sexual parts of a woman and you think of yourself as a woman, it's the same if you're born with the sexual parts of a man and think of yourself as a man. Transgendered is when you… when you're born in the wrong body, I guess." Roy rubbed at the back of his head, then remembered he was currently Artemis and ended up getting his hand tangled in his pony tail. "I'm not… I'm not transgendered, I don't think of myself as a woman when I'm…. well, when I'm Roy." He never had, ever. He'd always been manly, masculine, boyish even for a boy. "But when I'm Artemis I start thinking of myself as, well, as a girl."
"I don't understand." Miss Martian laid a hand on Roy's shoulder, Roy hadn't even realized how tense he had become. "What does that have to do with feminine whiles being evil?"
Roy's laugh was loud and harsh and angry, it sounded way too much like how he laughed normally and not how he laughed when he was Artemis. "I guess I'm just… angry. I like being Artemis and being on the team, if I was… if I was me it would be different." It wasn't like Artemis was given any special dispensations, but if Roy joined the team as Red Arrow… things would be different. How his friends treated him would be different. "And if they knew that I'd been posing as Artemis for months…"
They'd be so pissed.
"I don't think they would be angry." Miss Martian smiled. "Everyone likes you, after all, as Artemis or Red Arrow. They'd want you on the team!"
"I think some of them might like me a little too much." Roy said sardonically. He was thinking about Wally and his obvious crush, but then Miss Martian hadn't noticed the fact that Wally was crushing on her so it was unlikely than she had noticed Wally crushing on him.
"Are you talking about Kaldur? I'm sure he wouldn't be opposed to finding out you were male. He told me he was very close with his friend Garth in Atlantis." Miss Martian flipped red hair over her shoulder and kept smiling. It was like nothing could phase her, sometimes.
Roy felt well and truly phased, if he was anymore phased his eyes would be popping out of his skull. "Kaldur?! I didn't think… what?"
Was that why Kaldur had… wanted to tell him it was okay? Oh geeze. What was going on?
"He said that he was unsure if his feelings would be reciprocated. You didn't seem interested in Wally, and even Superboy has tried flirting with you, though he's not very good at it, and I can't see how you could turn that down…" Miss Martian bit her bottom lip. "And I knew you were a boy before, and you seemed really dazed after you fought that assassin, so I thought… maybe you liked girls?" Then Megan darted forward and planted a shy, dry kiss on Artemis' lips.
It was too much to handle. Roy sat down on the ground, pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face in his knees. And groaned.
"I should have expected this. I mean. I got five different talks from Ollie. First was the 'sex ed' typical talk, then the 'it's okay if you're hetero/homo/bi/a/sexual' talk, then the 'dating other superheroes, how to do it without fucking up' talk, then the 'late bloomers are perfectly alright' talk, and finally the 'do you want me to buy you hookers?' talk. I should have expected other superheroes to be filled with hormones gone out of control. Why can't people just get off on hitting things? I like hitting things. Hitting things is simple."
Or so Roy had thought, once upon a time, now he was wondering if hitting things wasn't him sublimating his sexual desires into physical violence.
Miss Martian settled down on the grass next to him and patted Roy on the back. "So you're not interested in anyone on the team? Because I'm pretty sure everyone was going to start drawing lots soon enough."
Roy pressed his face closer to his knees. "No, I'm not interested! I mean, I might be, but I'm not even sure if I like guys or if it's just because this body is cursed to like anything!"
"I could help with that!" Megan offered, enthusiastically. Roy lifted his head to give her a questioning look. "Well, guys are hard, but if you let me into your head… I think I could pass for you, at least."
"…kissing myself would be a little narcissistic…" Still, Miss Martian looked so… enthused by the idea. Roy sighed. "It's really not going to work if I'm still Artemis. This body was created because of a sexual deviant's magic, I don't think…"
"We can test it!" Miss Martian leaned forward, telegraphing that she was going to kiss him again. Roy, seeing no reason why not to, leaned forward to meet her kiss. It felt… good, warm and soft, dry with just a hint of tongue. Roy licked his lips, brushing his tongue over her lips.
She tasted sweet.
Soon her tongue met his and the kiss turned into something more, something a little deeper, a little wetter, a little more exciting. Roy opened eyes he had instinctively let fall closed and met Miss Martian's gaze. Then he pulled back and took a deep breath.
"I liked that." Roy licked his lips and cleared his throat. It hadn't been as dangerous or exciting as the kiss from Cheshire, but it would definitely be a kiss that Roy wouldn't mind repeating. "But I kind of knew I liked girls."
"Well…" Miss Martian shifted, her body elongating, the skin changing, the clothes shortening and spreading at once. Soon Roy found himself facing a face that he only ever saw in the mirror, and considering the mask covering Miss Martian's eyes not even then. Roy rarely checked himself out when he was dressed in his Red Arrow costume. "How about now?"
"…" Roy made a face. "This is going to be seriously we-"
Miss Martian kissed him again, still soft and unsure and sweet tasting, but there was something different about the brush of noses, about having to tilt his head up to meet the kiss, and the bumping of chins. It was another kiss he wouldn't mind repeating. The wind picked up, blowing hard enough that Artemis' hair whipped over her shoulder and Roy had to brace himself with a hand on Miss Martian's broad shoulder. It took a lot of willpower to push her away.
Roy coughed.
"You're, um, still a girl though, and I'm still a girl, and you look like me so this is…" Roy ran a hand through Artemis' now mussed hair. "This is weird, but not bad."
"So, can I kiss you again?" Miss Martian shape-shifted back into her usual form. "Not now, maybe later, in Star City? I could visit you!"
Roy laughed and bent his head. "That sounds fun, and in Star City… we could test if I don't mind kissing boys when I'm a boy."
--
Roy scowled when his arrow was snatched out of mid-air. "I realize you might not need to practice speed, but I do need to practice my aim." Being a senior might have some perks but there were a lot of downsides too. Mainly, college was looming large on the horizon (even though graduation was months away, it was barely autumn) and Ollie was starting to put the pressure on too. Roy had never done badly in school, but he'd never really thought about college. That plus Roy feeling pissed about how dismissive his AP History class had been about the Trail of Tears… Roy'd needed to work of some frustration, and now here was Kid Flash adding to it.
"We need to talk." Wally twirled the arrow around and pointed at Roy and them himself. "You and me. Mano a mano."
Roy suppressed the urge to shoot at Wally (he didn't particularly want to hit Wally but he was pissed enough to take a shot) and instead put his bow and quiver down on Ollie's picnic table. "Seriously, don't you have anything better to do? Green Arrow's going to be home in like an hour."
Wally was a blur as he moved around the yard, suddenly he was in front of Roy and shoving him back. Shoving him which was just asking for a fight.
"Don’t shove me." Roy snarled. "What do you want, Kid Flash?"
Just when Roy thought he had been getting his anger under control.
"You said Artemis thought I was cute!" Wally poked Roy in the chest with his arrow and Roy smacked the sharp point away. "You gave me hope! You could have just told me you were dating her!"
"…I'm what?!" He was… wait… oh god, the wind, last night, that wasn't wind, that was Wally. "Look, I'm not-"
"Whatever," Wally tossed the arrow down at Roy's feet and looked two seconds away from crying in a fit of pubescent hormones. "Like I should have expected you to care."
And there it was, there was Roy's anger flaring hot and bright, burning inside of him like an out of control house fire, ready to destroy everything he held dear. "What you shouldn't have expected is-!"
"Uh, hi!" Miss Martian interjected cheerfully, if a bit unsurely, as she floated down onto the grass. "Did I come at a bad time?"
Kid Flash was glancing in between Miss Martian and Roy now, and Roy wasn't clueless to the fact that Megan had placed herself to the side but close enough that she would be able to intercept either of them if they started to fight. "What're- did you…" Kid Flash fumbled for words, the anger still hot and bright on his face before it was replaced with an obviously fake, flirtatious smile. "What's up, Miss M?"
"I came to, uh, train with Red Arrow!" Miss Martian smiled brightly at Roy and Roy gripped his hands into fists to keep from facepalming.
'Thanks, Miss M, worst thing you could have said.' Miss Martian looked clueless, unsure what Roy meant.
Kid Flash erupted. "Miss Martian too?! I said-! I thought…" Kid Flash shoved Roy at super-speed, his last words barely audible as he rushed away. "I thought we were friends." Roy lay on the grass, head ringing, breath shocked out of him and his ribs aching a little. Getting shoved at super-speed hurt.
Miss Martian kneeled at Roy's side; one hand cradled the back of his head and lifting him up. "Was it something I said?"
--
Roy wasn't terribly surprised when he got another visitor a few nights later. Given how close Kid Flash and the boy wonder were, Roy had actually expected this particular visit sooner. Crouched on the overhang of a bridge Roy watched as a boat idled past, it wasn't the boat he was waiting for, and waited for the unseen but felt presence behind him to make itself known.
"…"
When another ten minutes past and Robin hadn't spoken up, Roy decided to break the silence. "Seriously, are you just going to wait me out all night, Brat Wonder?"
"I was observing you." Robin said, stepping out of the shadows and closer to the edge of the overhang, highlighted by what little light fell from the street lights ahead "You really upset Kid Flash."
"When the hand shaped bruises on my chest fade," They already had, but Roy felt like protesting, "he can talk to me about upset."
"Maybe when you tell him you're Artemis you can both talk about upset."
Not falling off the overhang was suddenly becoming much harder than Roy had thought. He fell backwards instead of forwards, crashing onto his ass and the cold, wet steel that was covered in who knew what. "I'm not-!'
"Don't try to deny it." Robin snorted, scooting over to Roy's side and snarling. "I wasn't sure at first but you gave yourself away eventually." Robin stayed crouched over Roy, all grim narrowed eyeholes and squeezed together lips. "Little things that all added up into her being you."
"Fuck." Roy scrubbed at his face with grimy gloves. "How long have you known?"
"I've been positive of it for about a month now."
Which meant Robin had suspected it was him as long as Artemis had been a part of the team. "You could have said something before." Roy picked himself up, he could see the boat he had been waiting for floating down the river. If he wanted to make that drug bust he was going to need to time his fall very precisely. "Or, I don't know, unmasked me in front of everyone and made this a hell of a lot easier on me."
"I didn't want to make it easy on you." Robin said angrily. "This isn't about you, this is about the team. You're a member of the team as Artemis or as Red Robin but if you're going to be on the team you need to be honest with us." If looks could kill Robin's glare would lead to a slow and painful death due to multiple stab wounds in key vital organs with a slim chance of exsanguination. "Isn't that what you were so mad at the Justice League about? The fact that they kept things from us?"
"Well you and Miss Martian know-"
"Miss Martian knows?"
"So counting me as many people know as don't." Roy glanced down at the water, then over at Robin. "And there's my ride, I'll see you this weekend."
And then he jumped.
--
Two days after Robin's visit Roy was pacing the floorboards at Black Canary's place. "I don't want to go."
Dinah sat with her legs crossed on her fashionably shabby couch (previously owned by a Star City college student who had left it out on moving day) and looked attentive. She wasn't dressed up in fishnets and her leotard, instead she was wearing pajama pants and a sweat shirt. Both of them were slightly sweaty from the work out, but neither of them were ready to shower yet. Roy'd needed a spar to work through his anger and now he needed to talk to talk through his problems.
It was so much easier when he could just repress.
"I want to go, but I don't want to go." Roy dragged his fingers through his hair, and scrubbed at the back of his head with his knuckles. "Robin knows about me being Artemis, Kid Flash thinks that I'm dating Artemis, Aqualad thinks Artemis is a transman and has a crush, and I'm pretty sure that when I turn eighteen in November making out with Miss Martian is going to be illegal, even if she is like forty in Earth years."
"We could always make another identity for you." Dinah was not helping as she switched which legs she had crossed and looked far too amused. "Ask Zatanna to whip up another gender changing spell…"
"You think you're funny." Roy scowled and flopped onto the couch next to her. "But you're not. What am I supposed to do?!"
"You could always tell them."
"…" Roy groaned and hid his face in his hands. "I hate you. I want another opinion. Can I ask Ollie? Maybe he'll send me to one of those special clinics where they 'cure' you through brainwashing and bigotry."
Dinah's laugh was loud enough to rattle the windowpanes and she slapped Roy on the back before she stood up. "If you tell Ollie he'll throw you a coming out party with the whole league invited. Then he'll run for Mayor just so he can ratify gay marriage, and then he'll begin pestering you about grandchildren."
Roy's ensuing grumbles were ignored as Dinah headed for her long overdue shower. Lacking someone to whine too Roy contented himself with laying on Dinah's couch sweaty and gross until she came back and kicked him off.
"Made up your mind yet?" Dinah asked, freshly showered and drying her hair with a towel.
"I guess…" Roy sighed and pulled on his shoes, not looking forward to the jog home or having to pack up and sneak out so he could get to the teleportation site to be picked up for Young Justice. "I guess I have to tell them."
--
He'd meant to tell them. Roy had been nervous about it, he'd (well, Artemis had) sweaty palms that he had rubbed on his green covered hips before he walked into Mount Justice. The team was already gathered around Batman however and Roy headed over.
"You have a mission." Batman said, voice serious and gruff as normal before he went into the details of their mission. Blah blah blah assassination attempts, blah blah blah, undercover protection, blah. The specs flew past Artemis' eyes and Roy could admit he wasn't really paying attention. It all seemed cut and dried however.
Protect the politician from the assassin, capture the assassin, save the day. After Batman had finished briefing them they headed for the hanger to climb into the bio ship.
"Robin." Roy snagged Robin's elbow, vaguely and visibly reminded how much shorter he was in Artemis' form. Robin was maybe half of Roy's height and weight when he was Red Arrow but as Artemis? There wasn't that much of a difference. "When this is over… I have something I need to tell the team."
It shouldn't be possible for eyeholes in a mask to widen but somehow Robin always seemed to manage (Roy had only ever been able to get them to narrow) and a small smile flitted over his face. "Good to hear. I can't wait to hear what you have to say." Then Robin clambered into the bio-ship and chattered with Wally who seemed to be actively avoiding looking at Artemis.
Great, like that wouldn't make the mission difficult at all.
Other than the disconnect between Wally and Artemis however the team operated like a well-oiled machine. Not well oiled enough however.
"We need an ambulance!" Robin was shouting, on his knees by the foaming politician. He fished a few things out of his belt, a syringe and clear liquid which he stabbed into their charge. Miss Martian hovered over the both of them, her eyes closed and a hand pressed to her temples. Artemis couldn't watch it; she was too busy facing off against the assassin. Cheshire, again, surrounded on all sides by Young Justice this time. Superboy was cracking his knuckles and looking intimidating but the assassin didn't seem to be paying him any attention.
"What did you give him?" Roy questioned, tangler arrow knocked and ready to fly.
"It's nice to see you too, Artemis." Cheshire smiled and Roy's stomach dropped out on him. Oh hell no, no, no, no, this was not the time… "Or should I say…" Roy let the arrow fly, it exploded in mid-air.
Cheshire dodged it and the tanglers wrapped around Aqualad instead. Aqualad reacted instinctively, slicing the ropes with his water-wielders, Roy knocked another Arrow, Kid Flash moved forward, hands raised, Superboy growled and leaped.
Cheshire wound an arm around Roy's waist, a knife pressed underneath his throat. Everyone froze.
"Red Arrow." Cheshire's fingers played with Roy's belt and suddenly it was being flung off of his waist, tossed to the side and Roy closed his eyes as his body shifted.
The cool touch of the knife was gone, and Cheshire was too. Silence fell.
And then the noise exploded.
--
The politician was in the hospital and they'd actually managed to trap Cheshire before she slipped away completely, though Roy doubted that she would stay in custody for very long. She was good at her job, and she was even better at disappearing. But now that the mission was complete Roy had to deal with giving this 'talk' to his teammates… and their mentors.
Roy had the belt slung over one shoulder and he had changed into his Red Arrow costume. Young Justice was arranged in a semi-circle in front of him, Batman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow stood behind them. It seemed like over-kill, sure, but at the same time…
"Artemis isn't Black Canary's niece." Roy tossed the belt into the air then tossed it down onto the ground. It skittered towards Kid Flash who stepped back from it. "I tried to take down Mister Erious and he…" Roy sighed and looked away, because it was embarrassing, "He captured me and was in the middle of turning me into one of his little mind-controlled slaves when you guys busted in."
Batman glared.
Green Arrow stared stunned.
Miss Martian and Aqualad both looked uncomfortable.
Kid Flash looked pissed.
"It was a stupid idea." Roy would have kicked the belt if it wasn't several feet away, instead he glared at it. "But asking Zatanna to tie the spell to a belt that I could put on or take off meant I could join the team without having to… swallow my pride." He then pointed a finger at Ollie. "I'm still mad at you, and I'm still right, just so you know."
Green Arrow snorted.
"You could have said something." Wally crossed his arms and tapped his foot at light speed. "You've been on the team for ages!"
"I know!" Roy dragged his fingers through his hair. Superboy was staring at him, staring almost to the point that Roy wondered if that x-ray vision had kicked in. "It was… what was I supposed to say, 'hey, I've been secretly on the team pretending to be Artemis because I'm a dick and I'm sorry but can I stop pretending to be a girl now?'"
The team hesitated, and then they exchanged looks and smiles. "…yes." Aqualad was the one who spoke and he directed his smile at Roy. "We would love to have you on the team, Red Arrow, whether you prefer to stay as Artemis or not."
Huh, that was easier than Roy had thought it would be.
Green Arrow hid a smile and a cough behind his hand. "I can't believe my ward is a cr-"
"Don't even." Roy snarled.
"So, hey, wait!" Wally picked up the belt, dangling it in one hand. "Then who was it you were kissing last week?!"
Miss Martian stifled a giggle behind one hand and Wally glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Oh, oh no way! Dude! That's like, kinky!"
Roy buried his face in his hands and wondered if this was really going to be worth it.
At least he wasn't going to accidentally refer to himself as 'she' anymore.
Author: kat8cha
Fandom: Young Justice Cartoon
Pairings: Light Roy/Wally, Roy/Miss Martian, hints of Roy/Superboy, Roy/Aqualad
Disclaimer: I don't own YJ at all.
Summary: Roy is cursed with the body of a girl, he makes use of it to join Young Justice as Artemis
Warnings: Badly handles issues of transgenderism
A/N: Started Pre-Artemis introduction for this prompt at the YJ anon meme.
If Roy ever decided to go evil, and we're not talking Take Over The World evil he was thinking more 'rob a few banks' evil, the first thing Roy would do was scope out the town he was planning on setting up in for superheroes. The *smart* thing for a troupe of new bank robbers to do would be to hit a few banks in a few small towns before even thinking about approaching a town with a superhero in it.
"Who's that?!" One of the masked robbers shouted just before Roy's 'one-punch' arrow clocked him in the side of the head. (It wasn't a boxing glove arrow, alright, it was just weighted to K.O. the opponent and 'K.O. arrow' sounded silly.)
"It's Green Arrow!" Shouted another before his hand was pinned to the woodwork by an arrow with an actual arrowhead. His gun dropped to the floor and Roy would have flinched at the clatter if he hadn't been dead sure that the gunman hadn't flicked the safety off. "Wait, that's not…" The robber tugged at his hand and sobbed a little.
"Smoke him!" Shouted the guy who was probably in charge. Roy couldn't keep track, the gang was disorganized. Not like it mattered, it wasn't like he was just going to let these amateurs shoot him.
Of course it helped when the gunmen found themselves disarmed and all shoved into a group.
In a flash.
Roy let loose a grappling arrow and waited with the shouting squirming soon to be convicts while the bank security guards took their sweet time making their way over. After he'd handed over the robbers Roy made his escape. He might not have been Batman (or Robin) and this might not have been Gotham but it also wasn't Metropolis and Roy wasn't Superman. In Star City you didn't stick around and talk to the cops.
"Not a talker, huh?" Kid Flash munched on a half peeled banana. "The Flash ALWAYS sticks around and chats up the police. I think he secretly enjoys being late for everything."
"When you're the fastest man alive being late is probably a luxury." Roy kept walking, he knew Wally would have no trouble keeping up. "Did you want something?"
The banana was finished and the peel had disappeared (a small part of Roy hoped it had been composted but knew better) and Kid Flash was now waving his empty hands around like he needed to keep them moving but didn't have anything useful to do. That should have tipped Roy off that something was up, but he was in the middle of pulling himself up a fire escape and continuing his homeward trek over the rooftops of Star City. He might not have been a Bat, but when he was in costume he didn't like to be on the ground. Being on top of a building gave you an edge when you were an archer anyway.
"See, it's like this." Kid Flash started, stopped, started again. "I was just wondering, um, if you had any advice."
"On what?" Roy glanced at his watch. KF must have rushed right over once his school let out, it was barely four. Which meant Roy had three hours before Ollie would be home, that was plenty of time for Roy to deal with Kid Flash's issues, right? And Roy really wanted a change and a shower, fighting crime under a hot California sun? Not fun.
"On girls." Roy glanced from his watch up at Kid Flash's beat red face. "You know, in general." Roy was pretty sure he'd never seen someone turn so red they were practically purple unless they were being asphyxiated. "Specifically Artemis."
This might take a while, Roy thought.
"This might take a while." Roy said out-loud. "Why don't we head to my place so I can grab a change and then we'll-" Roy wasn't terribly surprised when Kid Flash zipped off then reappeared with a duffel bag. "Well, I was going to lend you some civvies" The flush that had disappeared reappeared. Roy shrugged. "C'mon, I need a shower."
The walk was surprisingly fast. Once they ran out of buildings to walk on top of (and they eventually did, Ollie lived out in the suburbs) Roy dropped onto the sidewalk and took inconspicuous lesser known routes in order to get to the woods that ended in Ollie's backyard. He figured he could have taken Wally into the Arrow Cave (that was the stupidest name ever for the place and Roy felt embarrassed whenever he talked about it) but he hated the showers down there. They all smelled like limestone. "You can change into your clothes in my room." Roy said, not unkindly shoving Kid Flash up the stairs and towards his room. He didn't want Wally poking around too much but he didn't want to seem like he was hiding anything. It's not like Green Arrow's secret identity wasn't more of an open secret identity.
That damn beard.
Once he had the door closed behind Wally Roy stripped off his gear and headed for a quick but much needed shower. It was only when he had shampoo in his hair and his head under the shower-head that he realized that Wally might get curious.
And poke around his room.
And possibly get so curious he looked under the bed.
And opened up the black trunk in there.
And saw…
Well. It's not like Roy couldn't come up with a lie for why he had Artemis' clothes, right? He could say they were a spare. Green Arrow needed to store them. Artemis gave the set to him to keep hidden, just in case… uh… He could lie about it. Probably.
Which was why he cut his shower short and briskly toweled off. He didn't even bother to shrug on the red boxer briefs from his uniform (they needed to be washed anyway) he just wrapped a towel around his waist and left wet footprints down the hallway as he padded to his room.
"You're taking geology?" Wally asked, flipping through Roy's homework. "Cool, we don't get science electives until like, junior year. It seems so far away." Almost quicker than Roy could catch Wally's eyes flickered to his bare torso. Not quite quick enough that Roy didn't notice.
"I am a senior." Roy walked to his dresser and poked around his open dresser drawers. He could be a mess when he wanted to be and well... he didn't have a lot of friends that he needed to worry about cleaning up for. "And it was either geology or biology two. I almost failed out of bio one so…" Roy pulled out a shirt that was basically clean and tugged it on, then he grabbed a pair of loose jeans and pulled them up his hips before ditching the towel. It wasn't like he was uncomfortable with dressing in front of another guy it was just…
Okay, with the weight of Kid Flash's gaze resting between his shoulder blades, Roy could admit he was a little uncomfortable with it. He was less uncomfortable with going commando just to avoid having to put on underwear in front of KF.
"Did you really?" Kid Flash flipped through a few more or Roy's text books. The computer science one, the math one, Roy noted that the younger redhead stayed away from the literature books. "I like Chemistry better but Biology really isn't that hard."
"I'm not a fan of dissection." That and the fact that he'd bullshitted his way through his science fair project were the reason Roy had almost had to repeat Bio 1. Roy took a seat on his bed and shifted, the jeans were clinging slightly to his still damp ass. "You didn't run cross-country just to talk to me about my classwork."
"No…" Kid Flash spun around in Roy's computer chair, it was like he couldn't be still for longer than a minute. "Um, about Artemis. Does she ever… does she talk about-" Roy substituted 'me' for whatever Wally said next, "the team?"
"I don't talk to her a lot." Roy scooted back so his legs dangled off the bed and his back was to the wall. "She's G.A.'s niece, she doesn't even see him that often. But she says you guys aren't half-bad."
Kid Flash spun around slightly slower this time, the expression on his face definitely downcast. Roy almost, almost, felt bad about it.
"So she doesn't…" Kid Flash's face drooped even more. If faces were cheese pizzas, Wally's would be the kind of cheese pizza that had been tipped over while still hot. "I mean, I've been trying really hard…"
Roy felt a headache building. "She doesn't really mind your flirting." Oh god, what was he saying?! "Although she would appreciate if you showed her and Miss Martian more respect." That was more like it, Roy, turn him down gently, but still turn him down. "She even said she thought you were a little cute."
No! Abort! Abort!
Roy almost felt the need to comically smack his hands over his face. What had he said? Why had he said it? What was wrong with him?
Okay, he could admit Kid Flash was cute. Masculine, a boy but… cute. He had that red hair, the kind of red-orange that always looked ridiculous and clashed with everything, and freckles that dotted his nose and cheeks and peeked out from under his collar. It was… cute. Cute like an over-eager puppy. Maybe.
"Really?" Kid Flash perked up, exactly like an over-eager puppy. "She said I was cute?"
"A little cute." Roy backpedalled rapidly. The last thing he needed was Wally getting even more flirtatious with him when he was a girl. "Like…"
Wally hugged Roy, rapidly and tightly, then let go and beamed at Roy. "She said I was cute!"
The door to Roy's room hit the wall with a BANG as did all the doors Wally threw open as he rushed out of the house. Roy was left, winded and windblown, on his bed, wondering just how he was going to screw over his life tomorrow.
--
'Do you think I should tell them?' Roy asked, crouched on the branch of a tree. He was watching a small sunlit clearing with a red flag in the center. So far no one had approached the spot that Roy and Megan had picked to hide their flag, but Roy wasn't about to take his eyes off the waving red prize. M'gann was flying above the forest on the hunt for Kaldur and Superboy's flag. Robin and Kid Flash were the real danger Superboy would be too loud to risk as the capture team, so he would probably be guarding the flag, Kaldur wouldn't be quite as dangerous to face off against as Kid Flash, and if they got Superboy and Kaldur's flag first they had the upper hand.
Playing three pronged Capture the Flag wasn't really training in Roy's mind but that's what Young Justice had been set to do today. At least Roy knew that the Justice League also played Capture the Flag now and then.
(He was pretty sure Ollie had lied about the potato sack races, but Black Canary and Green Lantern had backed him up on playing Capture the Flag.)
'I think it's your choice.' Megan responded. The leaves rustled in the trees on the other side of the clearing and Roy knocked an arrow carefully. 'I don't understand what the big deal is anyway.'
A bird flew out of the tree and up into the sun and Roy relaxed. 'I don't know what gender and sexuality is like on Mars…' Roy shifted restlessly. Waiting with something essential to archery, and Roy had learned how to wait with the best of them, but he didn't have to like it. Patience wasn't something he was known for, after all. It wasn't something that Green Arrow had been known for either, so one or the other of them had always been rushing in before they should and would eventually need to be rescued by the other. 'On Earth it can get really… complicated.'
'I found Superboy and his flag!' Megan's voice rung cheerfully through Roy's head, he grinned slightly. 'Oh, does this mean I must now 'take him out'?'
'If you can, Miss M.'
Okay, so Superboy was with his flag, which meant it would be Aqualad sheeeeeeeee- he was looking out for. Roy shifted in his spot on the tree branch and…
Was that a spot of red she spotted across the clearing? Artemis grinned and released an arrow, unsurprised when Robin rolled out of the tree line, narrowly dodging her arrow but exposing herself. He was also racing for her flag.
Artemis dropped out of the tree and fired off another arrow on her way down, already knocking another arrow as she raced towards the flag. No way in hell was Robin going to get there first…
They both reached the flag at the same time, Robin reaching out to grab it, Artemis with an arrow pressed underneath his chin. Robin swallowed; if he'd been a little older his Adam's apple might have been bobbing pressed against the blunt end of her arrow. "So, I guess this is what they call a stalemate."
"Stalemate?" Artemis raised her, Roy raised his eyebrows behind his mask. "Sooner or later I'm going to have to let this arrow go, and you're either going to dodge or end up with a crushed windpipe. I'm pretty sure that's called me winning."
"You wouldn't really crush my windpipe, would you?" If he hadn't been wearing a mask Robin would probably have been fluttering his eyes at Roy. As it was he was smiling winningly and trying his damnedest to look cute while still reaching for the flag.
"Not another inch." Artemis bumped Robin under his chin with the arrow. Sure, Roy wouldn't actually let it fly… well, not this close anyway, that would be dangerous. "Also, I hope you know you've lost."
"What?" Robin scowled. He'd probably blinked too. "Just because you have me at arrow point doesn't mean I lost."
Roy grinned. This was the best part, he'd lost and he didn't realize it yet. "Since you're here, Kid Flash is either guarding the flag or heading for Superboy and Aqualad's. Since I doubt he'd actually agree to stay still, he's heading for Superboy and Aqualad's flag, which is where my teammate is."
The instant the realization hit Roy could see it. Robin's eyes widened and he stepped back from her flag, letting Artemis drop his bow and arrow and relax for a second. Roy still kept an eye on Robin as he pressed a finger to trigger his ear comm. "KF? KF! Please tell me you didn't-" The scowl was cute, but one of these days it was going to give him wrinkles. Serious wrinkles. Unless Daddy Bats had wrinkle cream?
"I don't care if she used her feminine whiles! No, I don't! Artemis is guarding it! Get back to our flag before-"
'I got them both!' Miss Martian cheered telepathically. Roy was sure his smile was brighter than the sun.
'Hurry back, fly high and silent Miss. M. We're going to win this.
--
They didn't, in fact, win it. Aqualad had been lying in wait for Miss Martian and intercepted her on the flight back. Superboy, who had been given instructions from Aqualad in case the flag was taken from them, jumped over to where Artemis and Robin were. The crater and shaking Superboy's landing created caused Robin and Artemis to fall over. By the time they had regained their footing Superboy had stolen the flag and jumped away.
So, officially, they lost.
"It was cheating!" Kid Flash proclaimed, slumped on the couch while the credits for Megan's favorite sitcom rolled and the preview for next week showed. "Feminine whiles are totally cheating."
"Black Canary wouldn't say so." Artemis stated with a snort, Roy flipped his long blonde hair over his shoulder. "She uses her 'feminine whiles' to distract bad guys all the time."
"Does it count as feminine whiles when it's a hero?" Robin questioned, popping a few pieces of popcorn absentmindedly into his mouth. "Catwoman is always using 'feminine whiles' on Batman, I'm pretty sure that it's a villain thing."
"HA!" Kid Flash pointed a finger at Miss Martian. "Cheater."
Miss Martian was looking confused, as was Superboy, and Aqualad seemed to be staying out of the argument, so Artemis slapped Wally's hand down. "Yeah, well if it was cheating when Miss M asked you for the flag then it was definitely cheating when Superboy asked her not to steal it. He used masculine whiles." The show was over and it was getting late. "Implying that feminine whiles are the only whiles there are and that they're evil is sexist and heterocentric and obviously shows you've been brainwashed by the patriarchal forces that control our country!"
OH GOD. BEING A GIRL WAS TURNING HIM INTO OLLIE.
Everyone sat on the couch in stunned silence, Roy only realizing belatedly that he had jumped off the couch to deliver his rant. "…it's late." Roy crossed his arms over his chest and glanced around the room, pantently uncomfortable. "I think I'm going to go to bed." With that parting remark Roy stomped off to his room, leaving several stunned teammates behind.
"What are feminine whiles?" He heard Superboy question, after he was out of the room. It was followed by the faint echoes of a chorus of groans, so at least his team felt as crappy as he did.
--
His room was dark and quiet, but Roy wasn't a heavy sleeper unless he was safe at Ollie's, so the sound of the door opening had Roy sliding his eyes open and groping under his pillow for a crossbow that wasn't there. Of course he wouldn't sleep with a crossbow while at mount justice… There weren't any footsteps but there was definitely another presence in the room with him. Roy rolled over onto his back and wasn't terribly surprised to see Miss Martian's body silhouetted by the low-level light that hedged all the doors in Mount Justice.
"Hey…" Roy rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Hey, Miss M. What's up?"
"I'm sorry." Miss Martian folded her hands together one way, then another, then she threaded her fingers together and flexed them. "I was just… you seemed upset, Artemis, earlier, about the whiles."
Roy pulled himself out of bed and didn't even think about checking the magic belt; he could feel it digging into his hips. "Let's take a walk." He pulled on a bathrobe and some slippers and motioned for Megan to follow him.
They walked quietly through the Mount Justice hallways. No doors opened and Roy noted that Red Tornado seemed to be… sleeping? Hibernating? Plugged in? Whatever he was doing, he didn't pay the two girls any heed, and they both walked out of Mount Justice with the computer's announcement of their departure sounding strangely echoed in the empty hallways. Artemis took a deep breath of the cool, crisp night air and pulled his bathrobe tighter around him. It was starting to get chilly now, Fall was creeping up everywhere, even Mount Justice.
"How far do you think we have to be before Superboy can't hear us?" Artemis asked jokingly, then shrugged when Miss Martian tilted her head quizzically. "Never mind. I just… it's sort of private."
'Would you rather we talked like this?' Miss Martian questioned in his head. Roy shook it and rubbed at his ear, as if that would dispel the ringing.
"No, I think it's something I have to voice, talk out, you know?" Megan continued to look vaguely confused and Roy was really feeling the culture gap at this point. He decided to skip talking about 'talking things out' and headed straight for sexuality.
Yeah, like that was going to be an easier topic to tackle.
"On Mars… you have guys and girls, right?" Miss Martian nodded, "And you were born female?" Roy was thankful that Miss Martian nodded against because really how do you describe female? The one who carries the eggs? Probably… "And you think of yourself as a woman."
Miss Martian's nod was a little more hesitant this time. They kept walking, Roy's slippers making soft sounds as it crushed grass, Miss Martian making almost no noise at all as she walked.
"Okay, well, that's called being cisgendered. You're born with the sexual parts of a woman and you think of yourself as a woman, it's the same if you're born with the sexual parts of a man and think of yourself as a man. Transgendered is when you… when you're born in the wrong body, I guess." Roy rubbed at the back of his head, then remembered he was currently Artemis and ended up getting his hand tangled in his pony tail. "I'm not… I'm not transgendered, I don't think of myself as a woman when I'm…. well, when I'm Roy." He never had, ever. He'd always been manly, masculine, boyish even for a boy. "But when I'm Artemis I start thinking of myself as, well, as a girl."
"I don't understand." Miss Martian laid a hand on Roy's shoulder, Roy hadn't even realized how tense he had become. "What does that have to do with feminine whiles being evil?"
Roy's laugh was loud and harsh and angry, it sounded way too much like how he laughed normally and not how he laughed when he was Artemis. "I guess I'm just… angry. I like being Artemis and being on the team, if I was… if I was me it would be different." It wasn't like Artemis was given any special dispensations, but if Roy joined the team as Red Arrow… things would be different. How his friends treated him would be different. "And if they knew that I'd been posing as Artemis for months…"
They'd be so pissed.
"I don't think they would be angry." Miss Martian smiled. "Everyone likes you, after all, as Artemis or Red Arrow. They'd want you on the team!"
"I think some of them might like me a little too much." Roy said sardonically. He was thinking about Wally and his obvious crush, but then Miss Martian hadn't noticed the fact that Wally was crushing on her so it was unlikely than she had noticed Wally crushing on him.
"Are you talking about Kaldur? I'm sure he wouldn't be opposed to finding out you were male. He told me he was very close with his friend Garth in Atlantis." Miss Martian flipped red hair over her shoulder and kept smiling. It was like nothing could phase her, sometimes.
Roy felt well and truly phased, if he was anymore phased his eyes would be popping out of his skull. "Kaldur?! I didn't think… what?"
Was that why Kaldur had… wanted to tell him it was okay? Oh geeze. What was going on?
"He said that he was unsure if his feelings would be reciprocated. You didn't seem interested in Wally, and even Superboy has tried flirting with you, though he's not very good at it, and I can't see how you could turn that down…" Miss Martian bit her bottom lip. "And I knew you were a boy before, and you seemed really dazed after you fought that assassin, so I thought… maybe you liked girls?" Then Megan darted forward and planted a shy, dry kiss on Artemis' lips.
It was too much to handle. Roy sat down on the ground, pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face in his knees. And groaned.
"I should have expected this. I mean. I got five different talks from Ollie. First was the 'sex ed' typical talk, then the 'it's okay if you're hetero/homo/bi/a/sexual' talk, then the 'dating other superheroes, how to do it without fucking up' talk, then the 'late bloomers are perfectly alright' talk, and finally the 'do you want me to buy you hookers?' talk. I should have expected other superheroes to be filled with hormones gone out of control. Why can't people just get off on hitting things? I like hitting things. Hitting things is simple."
Or so Roy had thought, once upon a time, now he was wondering if hitting things wasn't him sublimating his sexual desires into physical violence.
Miss Martian settled down on the grass next to him and patted Roy on the back. "So you're not interested in anyone on the team? Because I'm pretty sure everyone was going to start drawing lots soon enough."
Roy pressed his face closer to his knees. "No, I'm not interested! I mean, I might be, but I'm not even sure if I like guys or if it's just because this body is cursed to like anything!"
"I could help with that!" Megan offered, enthusiastically. Roy lifted his head to give her a questioning look. "Well, guys are hard, but if you let me into your head… I think I could pass for you, at least."
"…kissing myself would be a little narcissistic…" Still, Miss Martian looked so… enthused by the idea. Roy sighed. "It's really not going to work if I'm still Artemis. This body was created because of a sexual deviant's magic, I don't think…"
"We can test it!" Miss Martian leaned forward, telegraphing that she was going to kiss him again. Roy, seeing no reason why not to, leaned forward to meet her kiss. It felt… good, warm and soft, dry with just a hint of tongue. Roy licked his lips, brushing his tongue over her lips.
She tasted sweet.
Soon her tongue met his and the kiss turned into something more, something a little deeper, a little wetter, a little more exciting. Roy opened eyes he had instinctively let fall closed and met Miss Martian's gaze. Then he pulled back and took a deep breath.
"I liked that." Roy licked his lips and cleared his throat. It hadn't been as dangerous or exciting as the kiss from Cheshire, but it would definitely be a kiss that Roy wouldn't mind repeating. "But I kind of knew I liked girls."
"Well…" Miss Martian shifted, her body elongating, the skin changing, the clothes shortening and spreading at once. Soon Roy found himself facing a face that he only ever saw in the mirror, and considering the mask covering Miss Martian's eyes not even then. Roy rarely checked himself out when he was dressed in his Red Arrow costume. "How about now?"
"…" Roy made a face. "This is going to be seriously we-"
Miss Martian kissed him again, still soft and unsure and sweet tasting, but there was something different about the brush of noses, about having to tilt his head up to meet the kiss, and the bumping of chins. It was another kiss he wouldn't mind repeating. The wind picked up, blowing hard enough that Artemis' hair whipped over her shoulder and Roy had to brace himself with a hand on Miss Martian's broad shoulder. It took a lot of willpower to push her away.
Roy coughed.
"You're, um, still a girl though, and I'm still a girl, and you look like me so this is…" Roy ran a hand through Artemis' now mussed hair. "This is weird, but not bad."
"So, can I kiss you again?" Miss Martian shape-shifted back into her usual form. "Not now, maybe later, in Star City? I could visit you!"
Roy laughed and bent his head. "That sounds fun, and in Star City… we could test if I don't mind kissing boys when I'm a boy."
--
Roy scowled when his arrow was snatched out of mid-air. "I realize you might not need to practice speed, but I do need to practice my aim." Being a senior might have some perks but there were a lot of downsides too. Mainly, college was looming large on the horizon (even though graduation was months away, it was barely autumn) and Ollie was starting to put the pressure on too. Roy had never done badly in school, but he'd never really thought about college. That plus Roy feeling pissed about how dismissive his AP History class had been about the Trail of Tears… Roy'd needed to work of some frustration, and now here was Kid Flash adding to it.
"We need to talk." Wally twirled the arrow around and pointed at Roy and them himself. "You and me. Mano a mano."
Roy suppressed the urge to shoot at Wally (he didn't particularly want to hit Wally but he was pissed enough to take a shot) and instead put his bow and quiver down on Ollie's picnic table. "Seriously, don't you have anything better to do? Green Arrow's going to be home in like an hour."
Wally was a blur as he moved around the yard, suddenly he was in front of Roy and shoving him back. Shoving him which was just asking for a fight.
"Don’t shove me." Roy snarled. "What do you want, Kid Flash?"
Just when Roy thought he had been getting his anger under control.
"You said Artemis thought I was cute!" Wally poked Roy in the chest with his arrow and Roy smacked the sharp point away. "You gave me hope! You could have just told me you were dating her!"
"…I'm what?!" He was… wait… oh god, the wind, last night, that wasn't wind, that was Wally. "Look, I'm not-"
"Whatever," Wally tossed the arrow down at Roy's feet and looked two seconds away from crying in a fit of pubescent hormones. "Like I should have expected you to care."
And there it was, there was Roy's anger flaring hot and bright, burning inside of him like an out of control house fire, ready to destroy everything he held dear. "What you shouldn't have expected is-!"
"Uh, hi!" Miss Martian interjected cheerfully, if a bit unsurely, as she floated down onto the grass. "Did I come at a bad time?"
Kid Flash was glancing in between Miss Martian and Roy now, and Roy wasn't clueless to the fact that Megan had placed herself to the side but close enough that she would be able to intercept either of them if they started to fight. "What're- did you…" Kid Flash fumbled for words, the anger still hot and bright on his face before it was replaced with an obviously fake, flirtatious smile. "What's up, Miss M?"
"I came to, uh, train with Red Arrow!" Miss Martian smiled brightly at Roy and Roy gripped his hands into fists to keep from facepalming.
'Thanks, Miss M, worst thing you could have said.' Miss Martian looked clueless, unsure what Roy meant.
Kid Flash erupted. "Miss Martian too?! I said-! I thought…" Kid Flash shoved Roy at super-speed, his last words barely audible as he rushed away. "I thought we were friends." Roy lay on the grass, head ringing, breath shocked out of him and his ribs aching a little. Getting shoved at super-speed hurt.
Miss Martian kneeled at Roy's side; one hand cradled the back of his head and lifting him up. "Was it something I said?"
--
Roy wasn't terribly surprised when he got another visitor a few nights later. Given how close Kid Flash and the boy wonder were, Roy had actually expected this particular visit sooner. Crouched on the overhang of a bridge Roy watched as a boat idled past, it wasn't the boat he was waiting for, and waited for the unseen but felt presence behind him to make itself known.
"…"
When another ten minutes past and Robin hadn't spoken up, Roy decided to break the silence. "Seriously, are you just going to wait me out all night, Brat Wonder?"
"I was observing you." Robin said, stepping out of the shadows and closer to the edge of the overhang, highlighted by what little light fell from the street lights ahead "You really upset Kid Flash."
"When the hand shaped bruises on my chest fade," They already had, but Roy felt like protesting, "he can talk to me about upset."
"Maybe when you tell him you're Artemis you can both talk about upset."
Not falling off the overhang was suddenly becoming much harder than Roy had thought. He fell backwards instead of forwards, crashing onto his ass and the cold, wet steel that was covered in who knew what. "I'm not-!'
"Don't try to deny it." Robin snorted, scooting over to Roy's side and snarling. "I wasn't sure at first but you gave yourself away eventually." Robin stayed crouched over Roy, all grim narrowed eyeholes and squeezed together lips. "Little things that all added up into her being you."
"Fuck." Roy scrubbed at his face with grimy gloves. "How long have you known?"
"I've been positive of it for about a month now."
Which meant Robin had suspected it was him as long as Artemis had been a part of the team. "You could have said something before." Roy picked himself up, he could see the boat he had been waiting for floating down the river. If he wanted to make that drug bust he was going to need to time his fall very precisely. "Or, I don't know, unmasked me in front of everyone and made this a hell of a lot easier on me."
"I didn't want to make it easy on you." Robin said angrily. "This isn't about you, this is about the team. You're a member of the team as Artemis or as Red Robin but if you're going to be on the team you need to be honest with us." If looks could kill Robin's glare would lead to a slow and painful death due to multiple stab wounds in key vital organs with a slim chance of exsanguination. "Isn't that what you were so mad at the Justice League about? The fact that they kept things from us?"
"Well you and Miss Martian know-"
"Miss Martian knows?"
"So counting me as many people know as don't." Roy glanced down at the water, then over at Robin. "And there's my ride, I'll see you this weekend."
And then he jumped.
--
Two days after Robin's visit Roy was pacing the floorboards at Black Canary's place. "I don't want to go."
Dinah sat with her legs crossed on her fashionably shabby couch (previously owned by a Star City college student who had left it out on moving day) and looked attentive. She wasn't dressed up in fishnets and her leotard, instead she was wearing pajama pants and a sweat shirt. Both of them were slightly sweaty from the work out, but neither of them were ready to shower yet. Roy'd needed a spar to work through his anger and now he needed to talk to talk through his problems.
It was so much easier when he could just repress.
"I want to go, but I don't want to go." Roy dragged his fingers through his hair, and scrubbed at the back of his head with his knuckles. "Robin knows about me being Artemis, Kid Flash thinks that I'm dating Artemis, Aqualad thinks Artemis is a transman and has a crush, and I'm pretty sure that when I turn eighteen in November making out with Miss Martian is going to be illegal, even if she is like forty in Earth years."
"We could always make another identity for you." Dinah was not helping as she switched which legs she had crossed and looked far too amused. "Ask Zatanna to whip up another gender changing spell…"
"You think you're funny." Roy scowled and flopped onto the couch next to her. "But you're not. What am I supposed to do?!"
"You could always tell them."
"…" Roy groaned and hid his face in his hands. "I hate you. I want another opinion. Can I ask Ollie? Maybe he'll send me to one of those special clinics where they 'cure' you through brainwashing and bigotry."
Dinah's laugh was loud enough to rattle the windowpanes and she slapped Roy on the back before she stood up. "If you tell Ollie he'll throw you a coming out party with the whole league invited. Then he'll run for Mayor just so he can ratify gay marriage, and then he'll begin pestering you about grandchildren."
Roy's ensuing grumbles were ignored as Dinah headed for her long overdue shower. Lacking someone to whine too Roy contented himself with laying on Dinah's couch sweaty and gross until she came back and kicked him off.
"Made up your mind yet?" Dinah asked, freshly showered and drying her hair with a towel.
"I guess…" Roy sighed and pulled on his shoes, not looking forward to the jog home or having to pack up and sneak out so he could get to the teleportation site to be picked up for Young Justice. "I guess I have to tell them."
--
He'd meant to tell them. Roy had been nervous about it, he'd (well, Artemis had) sweaty palms that he had rubbed on his green covered hips before he walked into Mount Justice. The team was already gathered around Batman however and Roy headed over.
"You have a mission." Batman said, voice serious and gruff as normal before he went into the details of their mission. Blah blah blah assassination attempts, blah blah blah, undercover protection, blah. The specs flew past Artemis' eyes and Roy could admit he wasn't really paying attention. It all seemed cut and dried however.
Protect the politician from the assassin, capture the assassin, save the day. After Batman had finished briefing them they headed for the hanger to climb into the bio ship.
"Robin." Roy snagged Robin's elbow, vaguely and visibly reminded how much shorter he was in Artemis' form. Robin was maybe half of Roy's height and weight when he was Red Arrow but as Artemis? There wasn't that much of a difference. "When this is over… I have something I need to tell the team."
It shouldn't be possible for eyeholes in a mask to widen but somehow Robin always seemed to manage (Roy had only ever been able to get them to narrow) and a small smile flitted over his face. "Good to hear. I can't wait to hear what you have to say." Then Robin clambered into the bio-ship and chattered with Wally who seemed to be actively avoiding looking at Artemis.
Great, like that wouldn't make the mission difficult at all.
Other than the disconnect between Wally and Artemis however the team operated like a well-oiled machine. Not well oiled enough however.
"We need an ambulance!" Robin was shouting, on his knees by the foaming politician. He fished a few things out of his belt, a syringe and clear liquid which he stabbed into their charge. Miss Martian hovered over the both of them, her eyes closed and a hand pressed to her temples. Artemis couldn't watch it; she was too busy facing off against the assassin. Cheshire, again, surrounded on all sides by Young Justice this time. Superboy was cracking his knuckles and looking intimidating but the assassin didn't seem to be paying him any attention.
"What did you give him?" Roy questioned, tangler arrow knocked and ready to fly.
"It's nice to see you too, Artemis." Cheshire smiled and Roy's stomach dropped out on him. Oh hell no, no, no, no, this was not the time… "Or should I say…" Roy let the arrow fly, it exploded in mid-air.
Cheshire dodged it and the tanglers wrapped around Aqualad instead. Aqualad reacted instinctively, slicing the ropes with his water-wielders, Roy knocked another Arrow, Kid Flash moved forward, hands raised, Superboy growled and leaped.
Cheshire wound an arm around Roy's waist, a knife pressed underneath his throat. Everyone froze.
"Red Arrow." Cheshire's fingers played with Roy's belt and suddenly it was being flung off of his waist, tossed to the side and Roy closed his eyes as his body shifted.
The cool touch of the knife was gone, and Cheshire was too. Silence fell.
And then the noise exploded.
--
The politician was in the hospital and they'd actually managed to trap Cheshire before she slipped away completely, though Roy doubted that she would stay in custody for very long. She was good at her job, and she was even better at disappearing. But now that the mission was complete Roy had to deal with giving this 'talk' to his teammates… and their mentors.
Roy had the belt slung over one shoulder and he had changed into his Red Arrow costume. Young Justice was arranged in a semi-circle in front of him, Batman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow stood behind them. It seemed like over-kill, sure, but at the same time…
"Artemis isn't Black Canary's niece." Roy tossed the belt into the air then tossed it down onto the ground. It skittered towards Kid Flash who stepped back from it. "I tried to take down Mister Erious and he…" Roy sighed and looked away, because it was embarrassing, "He captured me and was in the middle of turning me into one of his little mind-controlled slaves when you guys busted in."
Batman glared.
Green Arrow stared stunned.
Miss Martian and Aqualad both looked uncomfortable.
Kid Flash looked pissed.
"It was a stupid idea." Roy would have kicked the belt if it wasn't several feet away, instead he glared at it. "But asking Zatanna to tie the spell to a belt that I could put on or take off meant I could join the team without having to… swallow my pride." He then pointed a finger at Ollie. "I'm still mad at you, and I'm still right, just so you know."
Green Arrow snorted.
"You could have said something." Wally crossed his arms and tapped his foot at light speed. "You've been on the team for ages!"
"I know!" Roy dragged his fingers through his hair. Superboy was staring at him, staring almost to the point that Roy wondered if that x-ray vision had kicked in. "It was… what was I supposed to say, 'hey, I've been secretly on the team pretending to be Artemis because I'm a dick and I'm sorry but can I stop pretending to be a girl now?'"
The team hesitated, and then they exchanged looks and smiles. "…yes." Aqualad was the one who spoke and he directed his smile at Roy. "We would love to have you on the team, Red Arrow, whether you prefer to stay as Artemis or not."
Huh, that was easier than Roy had thought it would be.
Green Arrow hid a smile and a cough behind his hand. "I can't believe my ward is a cr-"
"Don't even." Roy snarled.
"So, hey, wait!" Wally picked up the belt, dangling it in one hand. "Then who was it you were kissing last week?!"
Miss Martian stifled a giggle behind one hand and Wally glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Oh, oh no way! Dude! That's like, kinky!"
Roy buried his face in his hands and wondered if this was really going to be worth it.
At least he wasn't going to accidentally refer to himself as 'she' anymore.