Artemis was Wally's partner.
Tigress, at first, had thought she was Kaldur'ahm's partner. After all, she'd been his lieutenant, his backup, and kept his secrets. But she hadn't done it for Kaldur. She would have, because he was a good friend and she loved him in the way she guessed she would have loved a brother if she had had one, but she hadn't committed to the suicide mission for his sake.
The past couple months, with the Outsiders, had been something incredible and surreal. Tigress and Cheshire fought side by side for the first time in…well, mostly just the first time. Being on a team with Red Arrow again was nicer than Tigress had thought that it would be. At some point, he'd gone from a constant source of grief to almost a big brother. Well, legally, he was her big brother now.
Grace was a really cool person, someone Tigress felt comfortable with. The two bonded over rough childhoods, and Grace joked that she would someday tattoo Tigress' name on her shoulder when she got the rest of her family done. It was weird for Tigress to be on a team with someone who bore her mother's supervillain name, but the new Huntress had soon gained her trust. Helena was an adorable mix of girly-ness and uber-violence. Cheshire wanted to adopt her as a second baby sister. Tigress agreed with Cheshire and Huntress on one thing, though – Indigo gave her the creeps.
And then there was Nightwing.
Robin I had been Artemis' friend. He had defended her against people who thought she was suspicious or unfit to be on the team back when he was Robin. He had kept her secrets. They worked well together and while Artemis didn't know his story, Robin had connected with her on a level that no one else on the team could. No one but M'gann, but the Martian girl was more interested in running from her past than in facing it. Tigress supposed that she was too.
Dick Grayson was Wally's best friend, and was always there when Wally needed to talk about something that his girlfriend couldn't understand. Artemis had come to appreciate him for that. She had assumed that was the reason she couldn't refuse when Nightwing asked for her help. Artemis hadn't really known Nightwing very well – he was much more serious than Robin or Dick had ever been, and just as closed up as Robin and his shades were. Nightwing had a responsibility that was almost too much for him to handle. He was mysterious, distant, and secretive. He was also very, very good at his job.
Tigress supposed she had always known, on some level, that becoming Tigress would change things. She wasn't the naïve girl in green who acted tough only because she couldn't survive being hurt again. She had grown over the years, and now she was back in the game but her old uniform didn't fit, metaphorically speaking. And she knew that going closer to the Hero life was going farther from Wally, the man she loved.
Tigress could have gone back into retirement after…after, but the thought never crossed her mind. She'd rejoined the team, and followed Nightwing when he started the Outsiders after another fight with Batman. She had followed Nightwing the whole time – she had followed him out of retirement and into the Light. She had followed Nightwing through all his crazy schemes. She'd gone back to the team, where they had first met as the naïve girl whose heart was broken almost beyond help and the scarred but not defeated boy who wouldn't let her give up. And when he was afraid to come back, all those years later, she was there to help him see how much he was wanted.
And when he left, she followed him again.
Artemis was Wally's partner, but Tigress had always been Nightwing's.