MOUNT JUSTICE

August 9, 00:05 EDT

After the Computer had announced his designation, Kaldur slowly walked over to the hall. Chesire's jellyfish poison still stung a little. It was true that he was mostly immune to it, but getting several jellyfish toxin-dipped shuriken stuck to his body was, as Chesire had put it, testing the limit. The other members of his team had already crossed over. Superboy was waiting for him with his usual sour look on his face. When he saw that Kaldur was looking at him, he tried to look more friendly. M'gann told them she wanted to take a shower, and floated away, cheerful as ever. Wally sped after her, clearly intending to steal a peek. Robin said he needed to get to Batman who had a mission for him. He waved them goodbye and exited. Superboy threw his hands in the air and muttered something about taking a walk. Kaldur briefly wondered what exactly was it that Superboy did when they weren't on a mission somewhere, but decided it was not his place to pry.

Realizing he had been left alone, Kaldur grabbed one of his wounds and cowered slightly.

"Hurts, does it?"

Kaldur started, alarmed by the sudden presence of another person in the hall. It was Artemis, the newcomer. "Indeed." He shook his head. Normally, he should have been able to tell when somebody was in close proximity of him. It must have been the venom that was interfering with his senses.

"Do you need help?"

Kaldur noticed Artemis looking rather unsure of herself, and not at all the defiant girl she had made herself out to be during their missing to protect Dr. Serling. She didn't look like the type who offered unsolicited help all that often, and Kaldur thought it best to encourage her by accepting her help.

A few minutes later in the kitchen, Kaldur sat on one of the chairs and Artemis took a bottle of vinegar from the fridge and placed it on the table. She found antiseptic and some cotton balls from the medicine cabinet and placed them on the table as well. The look on her face was very serious, but ultimately indifferent. She looked like she was used to cleaning wounds, and this was no different from countless times before. Kaldur wasn't sure if it made him trust her more or less.

Artemis was looking at him expectantly. "What?" Kaldur asked her.

"Take off your shirt. I can't treat the wounds through the fabric."

Kaldur shouldn't have been surprised, but at that moment, with the toxin in his system, he was. It wasn't proper to disrobe when it was the two of them. True, only a day earlier he had been to the beach wearing only shorts while M'gann and the rest of the team (sans Wally and now Artemis) had been there, and that he came from a culture where wearing little was considered the norm, but he had studied the world above the surface and had concluded that even partial nudity had a more powerful effect there. Moreover, he was the team leader, and therefore-

"Hands up", Artemis commanded, and Kaldur instinctively obeyed. Artemis pulled the messy red sleeveless shirt over his shoulders and threw it on the floor. Evidently Artemis had gotten tired of waiting for him to take the shirt off himself. Thankfully Artemis didn't seem bothered by his bare upper body and he could concentrate on being still for the care. She soaked one of the cotton balls in vinegar and dabbed the wound under Kaldur's left rib. She systematically went through all of his wounds and then treated them with antiseptic to avoid infection. When she was done, she threw away the cotton balls and placed the bottles back to the places she had gotten them from. Then she carefully washed her hands.

Kaldur carefully stretched his arms. "I am sincerely grateful for your help..", he started to say.

"It's nothing." Artemis sat down again and leaned her shoulders on the kitchen table, staring at the wall distractedly.

"..it is, after all, the second time you've saved me today", Kaldur finished.

At that, Artemis turned to look at him coyly and seemed unsure of what to say. She opted not to say anything, smiling awkwardly.

"I believe you will make a fine member of the team." Kaldur tried to make his words sound as sincere as possible, as he was afraid Artemis would think he was being sarcastic or making fun of her.

"Yeah, Wally seemed ecstatic to have me here", Artemis said and rolled her eyes.

"He needs..time to get used to having you here." He placed his right hand on her shoulder. He felt Artemis needed encouragement and as leader, it was his job to offer it to her. "You belong here."

Artemis smiled back at him. Kaldur smiled as well, delighted by having established a rapport with her. After a moment passed, he realized he was still holding her shoulder and she was starting to look slightly uncomfortable. He let go and apologized. Artemis waved it off. She then said it was getting late and that she'd probably best get home. She nodded in farewell to him and walked away.

After she had gone, Kaldur picked up the messy piece of clothing from the floor. Holding it, he noticed that the color brought to his mind the vivid memory...of Tula. He sighed. Some times he was the one in need of a pep talk, but alas, nobody was around to give one to him. He decided that a good night's sleep was sure to give him peace. For now.