Summary: Waking up with the mother of all colds? Check. Finding out that you couldn't go on a long anticipated undercover mission to scope out an abandoned—gorgeous—island resort? Check. Discovering that you now had to spend the day with an acrobatic hero for whom trolling came as an instinct second only to breathing? Priceless.

Persistence and Pestilence

Part I

"You, of all people, should know not to leave your door unlocked. Didn't you grow up in Gotham?"

"I didn't leave it unlocked you little troll, you picked it!"

"Well, you should have known not to make it so easy."

Artemis groaned and half-heartedly threw her bedside lamp at the smug boy leaning against the door, which he dodged easily. Catching it neatly before it hit the ground, Robin gave her a disapproving look. "Really, Artemis?"

"Shuddap," she said, stifling a yawn. "How are you…even here?"

Robin grinned and Artemis was struck with the realization that maybe that hadn't been the best question to ask. Setting the lamp down on the floor, he drawled, "Weell…"

"I just decided I don't want to know," she corrected, settling back under her covers in hope that he would leave her alone; a slim chance, but one she was willing to take for the sake of her sanity. The greater good was something which required daily risks and sacrifice—but sadly, it was a fickle being.

The thick blanket did in fact prove no barrier to the boy's snickering, and Artemis soon found herself forced to listen as he explained, "Remember that time when we justhappened to bump into each other back before the Reds?"

The image of his smirking face as he bowed to let her enter the transporter first flitted through her head involuntarily, and she clenched her eyes shut, hoping to will it away. She did not need this; she was already running a cold, and she didn't need to be running after a self-satisfied troll too. Robin took her silence as a sort of agreement and continued, "You see, it may not have been so random."

He ignored her disbelieving snort, choosing instead to take it as a signal to go on. "In unrelated news, you need a little more practice in telling if someone's following you. And your subterfuge skills. Which leads me to the question—"

Growling, Artemis shot out of her blanket and pointed an accusing finger at him as she forced out, "Don't you say it. Let's just agree it was a dark chapter in both our careers, and let's leave it closed."

Robin pretended to look hurt. "But isn't our job to uncover the truth, 'Mis? Wouldn't it be in bad conscience not to discuss your, frankly horrible, bluffing abilities? You know, if you'd like me to spell it out for you…"

He trailed off suggestively, and even Artemis could tell that he was straining not to grin. She fixed him with one of her darkest stares and intoned, "No. No explaining, no suggesting, and absolutely no spelling."

Robin clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Now, how would your cousin feel about that?"

Her temper snapped faster than she could blink, and seconds later Robin found a pillow flying straight towards him. It smashed against his grinning face with a satisfyingthwack, and Artemis couldn't help the smile that rose at her achievement. Sure, he probably let her get that hit, but damn if it didn't make her feel better.

Yawning again, Artemis figured she might as well get to the point before boy wonder found himself tied up and stuffed inside her dresser. "I meant why are you here, not how. If you're just going to bother me, I'll be more than willing to give you my cold."

"Infected by Artemis Crock germs—I'll take it as a token of favor from her highness," Robin sighed reverently and laid a hand over his heart, assuming a tragic pose. It quickly fell away at her exasperation, and he winked; an action she had to tell from the way his cheek moved more than anything else because he still hadn't taken off those stupid shades.

"It'd depend on how you infect me, 'Mis."

"Painfully," Artemis drawled, and he seemed to perk up for a moment as he opened his mouth. She quickly narrowed her eyes, telling him not to test this or else she was going to be testing how durable the modern Boy Wonder was when pushed off a roof. Robin settled back against the door, still grinning for some reason.

She rolled her eyes at his immaturity, and groaned as she began to sit up. It didn't seem like he was going to be leaving anytime soon, and she might as well make herself comfortable, sick or not.

A sudden thought flitted across her mind, and she asked suspiciously, "Where's my mom?"

Robin tilted his head quizzically at her question as he leaned back against the door. She narrowed her eyes warily at the sight. A Robin pretending to be unaware was a dangerous Robin; she'd learned this the hard way. He hummed innocently under her stare. "You see, I've sort of…relieved her of duty."

"What. Duty?" Artemis asked between gritted teeth.

It was simply too bad that instead of distracting her with his usual roundabout conversations, Robin decided to be blunt for once in his—soon to be short—life. "You."