A/N: This has been ready for quite a while, I'll admit it. But I saved it for today, my 2nd anniversary on this site. After I saw "Homefront" the other night (SOOOOOO good, BTW) I had to make some slight changes and additions, after those Artemis flashbacks we had last episode. So... a few spoilers below.

Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

Artemis sat at the table in the middle of the small, cramped apartment that she shared with her mother, examining one of her arrows. The balance was off, and she wasn't quite sure why. Technically, she was supposed to be doing her homework before she did her "extra-curricular," but she and her mother both knew that a faulty arrow could end badly for Artemis—or worse, the entire team.

A knock at the door startled Artemis out of her thoughts. Quickly, she shoved her arrows into the bottom of her school bag, dumped her math textbook and three notebooks on top of them, hoping they wouldn't get damaged, and then quickly went for the door.

She glanced through the peephole and sighed out loud in relief. Of course. She'd forgotten that she was tutoring today. She unlocked the door, removed the security chain, and then opened the banged up door. "Hey Dick." The dark haired boy walked in, grinning.

"Hey Artemis!" A thick history book was visible in his hands, along with a scrap of paper where Artemis had scrawled her address during lunch period. Dick was still wearing his Gotham Academy uniform and had a neat black backpack with his initials sewed into it. Everything about him, from the backpack to his neatly shined dress shoes, told the whole world exactly who he was. Artemis wondered just how little common sense Dick had, going into the worse part of Gotham dressed like that. She was surprised that every mugger in the city hadn't attacked him already. Maybe they'd attacked each other trying to get to him first.

"Come on in," Artemis said, gesturing for him to enter her apartment.

"Thanks!"

She stood there, feeling awkward as he took in the apartment. Having Dick Grayson, son and ward of Gotham's wealthiest man here was strange. It made her keenly aware that, despite her mom's best efforts, the furniture still needed replacing, that the carpet was worn, that the spot on the wall where her parent's wedding picture had hung until the day her mother had returned from prison, after which it had been unceremoniously tossed into a trash can, was still visible. The door to her room was open, so Dick could see her small bed, with Jade's right next to it and the old Alice and Wonderland poster on the wall. Artemis resisted the urge to blush as he looked around.

"Artemis?" Paula Crock wheeled into the room. "Who was at the door?"

"Dick Grayson, Mom. I'm tutoring him in History," Artemis said, grateful for the distraction.

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Dick Grayson? As in—"

"The ward of Bruce Wayne, yeah." Clearly he dealt with this a lot. His smile was gone, replaced by a look that Artemis could only describe as sullen. If he got sullen at being identified as the adoptive son of the richest man in Gotham, she could only imagine what he would do if something really went wrong in his life.

Paula smiled at him. "Well, yes. I'm sorry if that upset you. I'm making brownies. Will you two want some?"

"Mom, you should know the answer by now," Artemis laughed. Dick looked at her inquiringly. "Her brownies are amazing."

"Well, we better get started. Bruce wants me back at the Manor by 6."

"Okay then," Artemis said, opening the standard-issue text book. "What did you have problems with for this chapter?"

Dick flipped through the chapter before landing on a diagram of a battle. "This was really the only thing I had a problem with."

"What don't you understand?" Artemis said, examining the diagram.

Artemis went on to explain the page to the thirteen year old, and then helped him go over the worksheet he'd been assigned that day. Afterwards, she cracked open her math textbook and allowed him to help her with her pre-calculus homework. Why a thirteen year old was even in pre-calculus was a shock to her, but not only was he in it, he was top of the class.

"I think you've got it," Dick said, leaning back with a small smile.

"Thanks a ton," she said with a grin.

"Good timing then!" Paula Crock wheeled herself in with a plateful of brownies perched precariously on her lap. "These are just cool enough to eat." She set them on the table in front of the teenagers, then wheeled out.

"I meant to ask," Dick said in a low voice. "Why's your mom in a wheelchair? She break her leg or something?"

Artemis bit her lip. She probably should tell him the cover story about her mother's crippling, but she didn't want to lie to Dick when it really wasn't necessary. But all the same, she couldn't exactly tell him the truth. "It's a long story," she finally said. "And she doesn't like me telling it." That would do.

The phone rang loudly. Artemis sighed and checked the clock. They still had another hour before Dick had to return to Wayne Manor.

"Artemis?" Paula wheeled into the living room again, clutching their white cordless handset between her shoulder and her ear as she used both of her arms to maneuver her wheelchair towards the table. "It's your Uncle Oliver." She paused. "Again," she said, more into the phone than to Artemis.

Artemis took the phone from her mother, grinning apologetically at Dick before she answered. "Hello?"

"Artemis!" He was using his Oliver Queen voice, not his Green Arrow voice, she noticed. "There's a bit of a problem back at my house. Could you swing by and help me fix it?"

Artemis sighed. Oliver insisted on using a code when he contacted her over the phone, insisting that the wire could easily be tapped. While she agreed, she thought that anyone who would be listening might think it odd that a multi-millionaire from Star City was asking his Gotham City niece to help him fix a problem at his house. But she hadn't brought it up.

"I'll be right there, Uncle Oliver," she said. "How soon will you need me?"

"As soon as possible," he said. "I think it might get worse." He hung up. Artemis listened to the dial tone, working out an excuse for leaving the tutoring session early.

"Hey Dick?" she said, clicking the "End" button on the phone. "I'm sorry, but do you mind if we end this early? My uncle is having car problems, and needs my help fixing it."

"Why can't he call a mechanic?" Dick said. Artemis thought she detected a faintly amused look for a moment, but on second glance, it was gone. She must have imagined it.

"Uncle Ollie?" she snorted, quickly trying to remember what she had told Dick about Oliver. Not much, as far as she could recall. "He's a cheapskate. Wouldn't even think about calling one when he could just ask me to try tinkering with it."

Dick laughed his short, merry laugh as he gathered his books. "Sounds like a great guy."

"He's not so bad," Artemis replied, helping him. She shoved the books that were hers onto one pile, and then passed him his pre-calc notes that she'd been checking her worksheet answers off of.

He reached over and snatched one last brownie from the plate. "See you tomorrow, Artemis!"

"See you tomorrow," she echoed, watching as he left the apartment. She got to her feet as quietly as she could, and leaned her ear against the door, listening to Dick's retreating footsteps. As soon as she heard his steps go down the stairs. She got up, still walking quietly as she made her way to the loose floorboard where she stashed her bow and costume.

"Oliver needs help again?" Paula said softly, watching as Artemis unfurled the top of her costume.

"Yes." She went to her schoolbag where she'd stashed her arrows. She grabbed them, placing them in her quiver, making sure to leave the faulty one behind. She scooped up her compound bow and quickly dashed into the bathroom to change.

"Is it really necessary for the outfit to show your stomach?" Paula asked, looking at her daughter wearily as Artemis exited. She had accepted that her daughter had chosen the path of a hero, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Artemis rolled her eyes at her mother as she stepped up to kiss her cheek. "Love you Mom. I'll be back as soon as possible."

Her mother smiled. "I love you too. Be careful. You never know what's out there."

Artemis nodded, and then crept to the window. There was a hidden Zeta-Beam station nearby that she could use to teleport herself to Star City. She looked about. No one was near. She dived down, landing in the tree. She quickly scooted down the trunk of the ancient tree that had somehow managed to survive in Gotham much longer than many people, then dashed into the alley where the station (shaped like a phone box) was hidden.

The phone didn't actually work, the hinges were battered, and a large sign that read "Out of Order" hung on it. She glanced around carefully, hoping that Robin wouldn't jump out to surprise her again. (She was about eighty percent sure that he actually knew that she lived here, and just did stuff like that to mess with her.)

She stepped in, and said "Green Arrow. Authorization: Artemis. B07."

"Recognized. Artemis. B07." The electronic voice droned. The light flared, very bright, and next thing she knew she was walking out into Oliver's house.

"Hey," she said, greeting her mentor.

"Hello." Her "Uncle" greeted her.

"What's the problem?"

"I'll explain on the way."

Dick walked in, grinning at Alfred.

"Master Bruce is waiting for you in the cave," the elderly man informed him, taking Dick's backpack from him.

"Thanks Alfred!" The young acrobat ran to his room first, quickly changing out of his school uniform, going over his report for Batman in his head. Artemis still quite obviously had no idea who he was. School was going pretty well for her, academically. Socially though it was a bit of a challenge for her, but then, scholarship kids rarely had it easy socially at Gotham Academy. Alfred's suggestion that he offer to help her out with her math homework in return for her help with his history had been an excellent suggestion. Not only had he managed to pull up his history grade, but he and Artemis were getting to know each other.

His phone rang, and he glanced down at it. A text from Barbra. A smile tugged at his mouth as he quickly sent back a reply. When he sent it off, it returned to the home screen, with the picture he had taken on the first day of school with Artemis. He smirked. "We'll laugh about this someday," he'd told her. He smirked to himself.

He kind of wished that Artemis would catch on about his dual identity. It'd be nice to have someone other than KF know who he was. And a member of the Team that went to his school? It would be whelming.

And while Batman had said he wasn't allowed to tell her, it didn't mean he couldn't leave her enough hints for her to catch on. Dick grinned to himself.

It was a lot of fun hanging around with Artemis Crock. She was a lot like Artemis the hero, but still different. Less aggressive, (although he suspected the fact that Wally wasn't nearby might be the reasoning behind that), more open, and less serious. She was actually a pretty good friend. He wondered which was the mask, Artemis Crock or Artemis the hero?

That was something he wanted to find out.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please review!

The One-And-Only,

Hinn-Raven