Artemis and Nightwing were sitting across from each other at the table discussing the next steps in their plan. Kaldur would have been of great assistance if he wasn't under Black Manta watch so much. The only reason why Artemis is here is because Black Manta feels his minions deserve some downtime.

"Wait a second, Lagoon Boy." Artemis blurted.

"Yeah he's still under capture but, you two are working on bringing him back." Nightwing stated.

"No not that. Remember what Vandal said during his villainous monologue on New Year's Eve five years ago. He wanted to create a master race, humans to evolve and for the Earth to be the center of the universe. So if this Partner wants to experiment on Lagoon Boy maybe he's trying to figure out what gives Lagoon those abilities. Then there are those missing kids, maybe they're a part in this experiment too." She explained hastily as if she didn't say it right now she would lose the thought.

"That's brilliant Artemis, I knew you'd be able to do this," He said grabbing her hand.

"Did you ever doubt that I could?" She asked teasingly.

"Sorry to damper on your twos fun but, even if Artemis is right, that doesn't give us any clue to who this partner is." Wally said causing both Artemis and Nightwing to look into his direction. Nightwing also let go of his grip on Artemis' hand.

"Even if I'm not right, at least it's a start." She stated.

"Are you okay Wally?" Nightwing asked him.

"I'm just peachy, Nightwing."

"Come on Wally; don't be around the bush you're obviously not feeling the aster."

"Ok, I just thought that after months of this ridiculous ruse we've been pulling, with my girlfriend pretending to be dead, we'd at least be off square one by now."

"Did you really expect it to happen overnight, you knew what you were getting in you decided to be a part of this."

"I thought you had a better plan then just waiting it out." Artemis got up from her seat and walked over to Wally.

"Look," She said grabbing both his hands. "We're all just probably frustrated and stressed out being stuck up in this room all day. So how about Wally, you and I go for a nice walk with fresh air before you say something you'll regret."

"I don't need to get fresh air Artemis." He said pulling his hands away from her. "If anything this needs to be said. Do you have any idea how screwed up your plan is? I've had to pretend the team, my family, friends, and everyone else on the planet and act like she's dead. Did you see Megan or Zatanna during the phony funeral?"

"You think I like doing this to my friends?" Nightwing asked.

"Well you obviously didn't like it enough for it to stop you from making that choice. You should be happy, seeing as you got what you always wanted Nightwing, you're just like the bat." Nightwing suddenly attacked Wally screaming he had no idea what he was talking about. It only took Artemis less than ten seconds to pull them apart and call them off.

"Hey what is going on with you two? I thought you two were Best Buds." Artemis said. But instead of the response of agreement about the fact that they were Best Buds that she hoped for, she saw those two silently glare at each other.

"I'm out of here," Wally said.

"Wally come on, please stay, I haven't seen you in months. I'm sure you two can work through this little spat."

"Artemis, think about this whole situation. You could've seen me every day if you didn't fall for his I need you trap."

"Trap?"

"He knew how much you wanted to get back in to the life, so he manipulated that, and got you into this whole mess. This is a chance to end all this. So are you coming or staying?"

"I wasn't manipulated into doing anything, I made a choice and I-,"

"I understand he's more important than me."

"It's not even like that between Nightwing and me, as my boyfriend you should know that." She said hurt by the fact that Wally would even think something like that.

"Yeah maybe not to you," He thought giving Nightwing one last glare. "I'm done here," He said storming out the room causing Artemis to chase after him.

"Wally! Where are you even going? Please Wally, just stay for me alright! Wally don't do this or the next thing you know it'll be next Monday! Wally!" Artemis pleaded trying to keep up with down the hallway. Nightwing cringed hearing her get this upset because of what he caused. He stared at the door anxiously waiting to see if anyone would return.

The silence didn't last very long when Nightwing heard the click of the hotel room door opening. He saw blonde hair but not anything or one else following after that. Her gaze was on that ground and she slowly started to walk past Nightwing until she stopped. She looked up at him her face was red and he's never really seen her so close to crying.

"It's not your fault, you're doing the best you can and it'll take Wally awhile to see that. You know how thick-headed he can be. I don't think Wally will tell anybody either he just needs some time alone. After this whole thing is done with, things will turn back to normal or at least normal for us." She said her raspy voice sounding strained.

"I hate to be even more of a downer, but I think things turning back to normal for us, is highly unlikely."

"I know. I was just trying to make you feel better."

"It should be the other way around. This is al-,"

"Don't start; it's not your fault. Sure being away from everyone I love sucks, but I'm doing this for them too. At the end of the day what else really matters."

"I know exactly what you mean."

"You always have, haven't you?"

"What can I say; I am a detective after all." He said shrugging. A small smile formed on her face reminiscing on those words. It quickly faded when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Nightwing followed he gaze noticing the sudden change in mood. He sighed and walked in front of her.

He carefully took off the charm and adjusted to let her have a view of herself. An idea popped into his head as he put the charm down on the table and dashed to the radio. He turned the radio up not really caring what song it was. She turned and stared at his questioningly. He just bowed and put his hand out towards her. She sighed and grabbed it. He stood up and twirled her into him, startling her for a second. He took her other hand and started dancing with her. She remembered when he was so short that wasn't even a possibility unless she stopped to walk herself under his arm. They could both say that this is the worst dancing they've ever done being completely out of rhythm and all. But at this moment neither them could really bother to care. It has been the longest time since the both of them has laughed this hard. She rested her chin on his shoulder.

The song was coming to an end and so was the dance but it was the start of their reality kicking back in. she slowly started to pull away staring at that domino mask of his. She suddenly remembers Wally's earlier words about Nightwing and her. She would be a liar if she didn't admit to being tempted to do anything romantic with him right now. They've always had an undeniable bond, she could never clearly identify what kind they shared, but it was always there even when she wasn't aware of it.

Nightwing realizes he has never had a more opportune moment to show her how he really felt, she was standing right there. He knew that and still did nothing; he can't make things more complicated by throwing his own personal feelings into the mix. She even admitted earlier to not even thinking of him that way. All he can do is be there for her, as she pointed out doing something for someone you love despite it not being what you want is all that matters at the end of the day, he realizes. She pulled away and headed back towards the table for the charm.

"I think I should go back to Black Manta's ship soon before he starts to wonder when his crew will be returning causing him to wonder where they're spending it." She said.

"See you soon," He said.

"Or not," She said mimicking him that time when the Red's attacked.

"Will you quit saying that," She smiled and headed towards the door. "Wait Artemis, I just want you to know that I l-," He said but stopped himself before he went too far.

"That you?"

"That I'm glad to have you back at least for a couple of hours." He said which was true but not exactly the same message he was going to tell her earlier.

"I'm always glad to be back." She said before leaving to live her other life.