Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter posted. It's been busy here between work and being a mom. I finally found enough down time to sit and get this chapter finished. It got a little more... racy than I initially intended but ah well. Anyway, my goal is to get this story finished before much longer. I have it all outlined. I just need to sit down and get some of it written more than once in a blue moon. I think it has a lot to do with the fact one of my other stories is just flowing better for me at the moment (and has been for a while now). I think tentatively, I'm going to set my goal of having this story done before the movie comes out at the end of May. (You know, if they don't delay it again.) Enough of my babbling though. I hope all is well with you and that you all enjoy this kind of weird chapter!

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The four eventually all met up in Diana and Alex's dorm room. The day wasted away as they all cuddled on the respective bunks. Diana and Artemis were wrapped up under a comforter on her bed, and Alex and Sebastian were on her bunk above them, sitting a little too close to each other and eating a giant bowl of popcorn as they watched movie after movie that afternoon. It was a good way to pass time and a good way to relax after their ordeal. And of course, it was a great way to stay warm.

Ortherion had escaped with the gem, and seemingly already put his doomsday machine to work on creating the second Ice Age to destroy the humans. It was the end of May, and the temperature was way below the average. To the common folk, this would just seem out of the ordinary, but to those involved in this debacle, it was all too telling that the villain of this story was winning. Snuggling together was all they could do to keep their bodies at a decent temperature without blasting their room's heat to unbearable levels, not to mention to keep their thoughts off the impending doom Ortherion was causing.

Around seven, they began to hear the sound of speakers blaring dance music, the sound echoing over their movie. Alex separated from Sebastian for a moment to look down at Diana from over the railing. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked her friend.

Diana smirked. "Most definitely."

The girls got up and both ran for the bathroom, leaving Sebastian and Artemis there to wonder what was coursing through their minds. Alex began throwing her hair up in a ponytail like she always did before parties. Diana just combed through hers, and brushed on a thin layer of powder over her face. There was no reason for her to get all dolled up. She didn't need to impress anyone tonight.

The girls emerged from the bathroom only a few minutes later, both smiling and looking refreshed. The boys looked at them confused for a moment before Alex answered the question that loomed on both of their minds.

"It's party time!" she announced.

Sebastian immediately jumped off the top bunk and joined Alex's side. "Hell yeah! I think it's a great time for one."

Artemis glanced at the three skeptically. "I don't know about that."

Diana pouted, hoping to change his mind. "Awe, come on, Arty!"

Artemis debated it silently in his head for only a moment. "Okay, fine. I'll go." He joined Diana's side, as Alex gave him a pointed glare.

"You are soooo getting wasted!" she declared.

"I most certainly am not," Artemis backed out. That didn't shock Diana in the slightest. Artemis wasn't a drinker at all. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure she had ever seen him drink anything other than water or tea. It would be interesting to see if he broke his usual rules tonight. She knew she certainly was. The last few days had been super stressful, and she needed a drink.

"We'll see about that," Alex snickered under her breath.

The four made their way out of the room and down to the common room where the party was in full effect. People were dancing and drinking and just having a blast with life. All very unaware that life as they knew it was in danger. What Diana would give to be just like them. Young, dumb, and carefree.

The girls found a couple of empty couches, and took their seats while they sent the boys to retrieve them something to drink. Alex was bobbing along to the beat of the music, glancing around the room.

"This is a good one," she announced.

Diana simply nodded, just as the boys returned. Each of them were holding two red plastic cups in their hands. She would never get used to the sight of Artemis holding party drinks. It was strange to see him doing something so commonplace. It looked incredibly out of place to see someone dressed so formally attending a university party- let alone holding what they called a 'red solo cup' back home.

Diana shook it from her thoughts as the boys sat down, and handed each of the girls a drink. Diana sniffed her drink, and could definitely smell alcohol. "What is this?" she asked Artemis.

He shrugged, turning to Diana to avoid having to watch Alex and Sebastian have a public display of affection. "I'm honestly not sure. Sebastian handed it to me."

"Dear lord," Diana mumbled before she took a sip. She didn't know what it was either, but it tasted fine. She watched Artemis for a couple moments as he swirled the liquid in his cup, staring down at it. "And uh... what do you have in yours?"

Artemis took a deep breath. "Same as yours, I'm afraid," he replied. "It's been a long week, so... cheers."

The young man brought the plastic cup to his lips and took a long sip before he started coughing. Diana almost laughed, but instead covered her mouth with her free hand. He was definitely not used to the burn of alcohol, and it showed.

"It gets better," she promised. "That first sip can be a doozy."

"I hope you're right," Artemis answered skeptically.

And she was. Diana joined Alex and Sebastian in drinking their stress away. Artemis was hesitant to follow, but he soon joined them in drinking beyond that initial taste. And it didn't take long for Artemis to lose his sense of reality.

The four were still sitting on the two couches, drinking and socializing, when they noticed that Artemis was seemingly staring off into space, not focusing on anything going on around him. Diana turned to look up at her boyfriend. His eyes were glazed over and his typically pale skin was flushed pink. He was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol.

"You okay, Artemis?" Diana asked him.

"I'm perfectly... fine," Artemis said, words slurred.

Alex was skeptical. "Dude, how much have you had to drink?"

"Half," was Artemis' reply.

"Half of what?" Sebastian slurred back, raising an eyebrow. "Half a beer, half a dozen, half-"

"-half of whatever this is," Artemis cut off, holding up his glass, the concoction still swirling inside of it.

Diana took his cup without any hesitation. "You're cut off."

"You're such a light-weight man!" Alex laughed.

Diana took a sip out of the cup she had taken from Artemis. "Don't be mean. It's not his fault. He's never really done this before."

"He should be ashamed! An Irish guy who can't drink? That's unheard of!" Alex lashed out. "For God sake's Artemis! Half a drink?"

Artemis ignored Alex's comment, or rather, probably didn't hear it. He had zoned out yet again. Diana couldn't blame him for that. Even being less intoxicated than he was, it was hard to hear anything but the music pulsing around them. Diana liked her music loud, but this was a bit much.

"Let's go dance," Alex suggested, jumping up from her seat.

Diana hesitantly stood. "I think I'm going to bring him up to bed. I've got a feeling someone will be nursing a hangover in the morning. The last thing we need is the brains of our operation down for the count."

Alex shrugged as she took Sebastian's hand. "Suit yourself," she replied just before the two of them disappeared into the crowd.

Diana shook her head, and then put her attention back on Artemis. He was still sitting there, oblivious to the world around him. She frowned. Diana wasn't a fan of this Artemis, and she was going to make sure he felt better as soon as possible. She set down his cup, and then stood, turning to face him.

"Alright, mister," she said. "It's time for bed."

She grabbed one of his hands, pulling him to his feet. Due to his intoxication, he bumped into her. Artemis wasn't coordinated even while sober, so this didn't surprise Diana in the slightest. She put an arm around him, helping keep him steady. Diana led him through the party, heading back to his dorm room.

Once they got to the room, Artemis clumsily fished his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. He and Diana stepped into the room, and then he locked the door behind them. She took a deep breath before moving away from Artemis so she could take her shoes off. She figured she would probably be staying with him so she may as well get comfortable. But the first order of business was going to be getting Artemis to bed.

She looked up to see Artemis sitting on the edge of his bed. Diana was glad he had managed to sit down without causing injury to himself.

"If you're going to bed, you're not sleeping in that suit. You'll ruin it," Diana said. "You're going to have to get changed."

Artemis nodded slowly. "I'm- I'm working on it."

Yup. Diana was not a fan of Artemis in this state. Seeing him slowed down hurt a bit. She was used to Artemis keeping up with her, even at his worst. Maybe alcohol was just not a good idea for him. She knew it affected everyone differently- and that even different alcohols could cause different reactions. She'd have to ask Sebastian what the hell was in their drinks later to make a better assessment of the situation. But for now, that would have to wait. Artemis was her number one priority.

She didn't wait for him to say anything further before she stepped over to him and began to pull his suit jacket gently off his frame. She could tell he was definitely not feeling like himself; he sat there with a smirk on his face, seemingly more than content to allow Diana undress him. He was infuriating sometimes. Intoxicated or not, Diana was pretty sure he knew the look he was giving her was enough to get her all flustered. Artemis was usually more subtle about getting under her skin. She averted her gaze from his face, and focused on untying his tie. As many times she had tied and untied one, she never seemed to get the hang of it.

"Dammit," she swore as she managed to get the knot stuck.

Artemis snickered. "Having difficulties?"

Diana sighed. "You know I am. If you're feeling well enough to be sassy, you're well enough to help me."

"But I like it when you do it," he answered, reaching up and quickly undoing the knot Diana had created in his tie. "I have quite the view at the moment."

Diana felt her skin flush pink, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol she had at the party. "Artemis, I'm not really sure now is the time to be flirting with me."

"Isn't it?" Artemis questioned, abruptly standing up, causing Diana to take an involuntary step back. "We could all die at any moment, I think it's only fair you're aware of how I feel."

It was a fair point, but Diana wasn't ready to admit it as she looked down at his chest as he pulled her into a tight embrace. "Artemis, you're drunk."

"The amount of alcohol in my system has nothing to do with it," he replied. He paused, taking a deep breath as he rested his forehead against hers. "Okay, maybe it does a little bit. It's just... we haven't had any time to ourselves recently and-"

"-I know. It's been a stressful week, at best," Diana interrupted. "And it's going to get worse before it gets better." She reached up and ran her hand through the hair at the base of his neck. "But for now, we can, um... relieve some stress."

"I thought you'd never agree," Artemis replied before he placed a heated kiss on her lips.

Diana kissed him back just as hard, pulling him ever closer to her as she started to finally relax a little bit. This wasn't what she imagined this evening was going to turn into, but she couldn't say she minded this turn of events. Artemis took a step back, and the two of them fell backwards onto his bed in a fit of laughter.

This was way better than just going to sleep.

*****

Artemis and Diana slept soundly after their exciting evening. Diana snuggled up tightly next to Artemis, her head resting on his chest while his arm was wrapped around her back. He had been the first to fall asleep, which was rather unlike him.

However, Artemis' dreams were interrupted late at night when there was a banging noise. He immediately woke up to see Holly knocking on the window of his dorm room. He frowned. Artemis was hesitant; he really didn't want to get out of bed, for so many reasons- ranging from being comfortable to a distinctive lack of clothing. He carefully rested Diana on one of the pillows and he wrapped himself in a spare blanket before crossing the room to the window. He quickly opened it, and Holly floated into the room.

She pulled her helmet off her head and then glanced around the room. She noticed how disheveled it was, and then looked at Artemis, still wrapped in the blanket.

"You're naked aren't you?" she asked him in disgust.

Artemis pulled the blanket around him tighter as he sat at the edge of his bed, and asked indignantly, "And so what if I am?"

Holly smacked her forehead out of frustration. "As a friend, Artemis, I'm telling you that you need to chill out."

Artemis frowned slightly, bringing a hand up to rub his forehead. "Holly, it's not like we-"

"-I don't care," Holly cut him off. "The last thing we need right now is another you running around here stealing things. Get your ass into some clothes!" She tossed him his pants from the ground.

Artemis barely caught them with his free hand. "Why do I need to get dressed? Why are you even here? It's two in the morning."

Holly gave him the death glare. "Why do you think you have to get dressed? We have to go back down to Haven. There are new developments we need to discuss."

All of the talking awoke Diana. She sat up, clutching the blanket to her chest as she yawned. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Get up and dressed," Holly greeted. "We've got to go."

Diana wiped the sleep from her eyes, and then realized that it was Holly who just spoke to her. The girl turned bright pink, completely embarrassed that Holly could've just seen an eyeful. Not that Holly hadn't seen a lot during her time being healed after the Spiro incident. The circumstances were much different, and that alone was enough for Diana to nearly panic.

Holly sighed. "I'll step outside for a moment so you two can get dressed. You have about five minutes before Trouble arrives with Sebastian and Alex and then we're off."

Holly put her helmet back on and then exited through the window, leaving Artemis and Diana in the room alone once again.

"Okay, new rule," Diana decided.

"We at least sleep with undergarments on? Or at the very least don't let people into the room until otherwise decent?" Artemis guessed.

"Yup," Diana answered. "That... that was embarrassing."

Artemis merely nodded as he moved off the bed to find some fresh clothes for them both. The two wasted no time getting dressed into their clothes. It was one of the few times Diana considered herself lucky she kept a stash of her clothes in his room. Just in case.

Holly came back in a few moments later and they were soon joined by Trouble, Sebastian, and Alex. The other two humans both looked just as tired and worn out as Diana and Artemis, perhaps even more so. It was likely they stayed at the party longer, thus drinking and dancing more before they returned to a room for whatever shenanigans they were into.

Alex knew immediately what happened, even without words being exchanged. "You too, huh?"

"Oh you have no idea," Diana muttered, still thoroughly embarrassed.

Trouble was growing tired of all the love and innuendos between the humans. "Okay, you guys can discuss your love lives later. Right now we have a crisis at hand."

No one dared to argue with him. Trouble seemed much more irritated than usual, and that was enough to let them know things were serious. With that closing remark, the group of them made their way outside and to the shuttle awaiting them to Haven.