She saw him again a month later, at another Light meeting.

This time the henchmen were being kept in a hotel lobby style waiting room with refreshments and different sets of couches, chairs and tables strewn about; the high ceiling and large crystal chandelier further adding to the aesthetic. She was sitting on one of the expensive-looking armchairs, watching as the villains interacted; some chatting, some side-eying the new arrivals and some scrambling to get a chance to speak to Mercy who was probably here to check on the dimension travellers as well.

As a way to express trust the Light decided to let one of the dimension travellers' henchmen guard the door this time, she guessed, explaining the orange and black colored robot standing outside their door that definitely wasn't one of Deathstroke's designs. She didn't think Deathstroke was into robotics, anyway. But Mercy being here meant they didn't completely trust them yet. She wondered if they knew.

Besides their metal nanny there was this woman in a purple robe going around socialising, probably a henchman(read:cult member) of Brother Blood. The robed woman was also not so subtly trying to get people to join Blood's cult and hanging around the younger ones especially long to invite them to some 'hive'.

She watched as the cultist made her way over to Robin who was sitting on a couch in a far off corner away from everyone else, a sickly sweet smile on her face. It looked like the woman was doing her best to stop the triumphant smirk blooming on her face as she said something Tigress couldn't hear. She was probably mocking him.

Robin leveled her with an icy glare that could give Batman a run for his money and it made the woman flinch back as if she'd been struck, an ugly scowl forming on her forgettably bland features. Tigress made her way over to the boy as the woman stomped off to bother someone else. In her peripheral she could see some curious faces obviously disappointed to see the conflict dissolve.

Robin watched her intently as she took a seat on the couch in front of him, a small coffee table seperating them. They looked at eachother for a while, neither knowing what to say or what the other's intentions are. Tigress broke the silence.

"It was a pleasure fighting you. Your feint was quite believable." Her tone was the definition of 'testing the waters'.

Robin nodded. "It was a pleasure fighting you as well." Artemis was kind of disappointed at the curt answer but she reminded herself that this wasn't any of the Robins she knew. And she couldn't say she'd be any friendlier if it was her in the same position.

Robin leaned back, looking around the room. Tigress did the same, noticing the curious stares of the bored villains. They were really getting their hopes up with thinking Robin would pick a fight just because.

"I heard you were a hero before this," Artemis asked cautiously. Robin nodded. "so if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here? Did you find something better on this side of the line?" Robin looked thoughtful, debating how much he could tell her.

"He's blackmailing me." He said blandly, like he was talking about the weather. Like he'd completely accepted the concept, like he'd used up all his anger for the situation and was left with complete apathy.Like it was normal. 'Water is wet, Batman is Bruce Wayne, Slade's blackmailing me.'

Artemis felt something heavy settle over her heart. She thought about herself in his shoes, five years ago with the team. There were a million things she wanted to say but she settled on one.

"What do you call your mentor's" Robin cringed, "robots? The one guarding the door, for example?" She had to admit, it sounded a lot better in her head.

Robin's lip curled up slightly. "I don't know what Slade calls them but we call them Sladebots." He said.

She was about to ask him what he meant by 'we' when the door opened and the robot entered. It took off it's mask to reveal a screen with Lex Luthor's face on it, saying the meeting was over and they could leave and all that crap. Robin was on his feet and following the Sladebot out of the room before Artemis had a chance to maybe learn his teammate's names.

———————-

"I heard you spoke to that boy. What did he say?" Artemis was pulled out of her thoughts by Deathstroke's voice and she wished the man would stop trying to socialise in the car on the way and back from Light meetings, missions and whatnot. She was starting to hate car rides already.

"Nothing of importance. He told me he called Slade's robots Sladebots, but I don't think you're interested in that." Artemis hoped he'd drop the subject.

"Cute. But I know you would've asked him why he... turned, because you're so interested in heroes, aren't you, Tigress?" The mercenary said smugly. Artemis wasn't having it.

"You don't have to pretend you don't know, Deathstroke." She hissed.

"You didn't answer my question, little girl. And I don't think you can afford not to." His tone darkened towards the end, the threat clear.

With a lump in her throat Artemis pushed the words that could possibly worsen the boy's situation out of her mouth, "He's being blackmailed."

The mercenary hummed thoughtfully.

Artemis felt kind of guilty for telling but she had lives to save. She sagged against the car door, drawing stick figures with her fingers on the fogged window. At least she could piss Deathstroke off by staining his windows. Yeah, that'll teach him.

Hey, you guys seemed to like the first chapter so I wrote another. Hope this one's just as good. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them! Also, to the person that said the Titans could help the team, thanks for the review! That was my plans as well. :)

Oh, and if the whole Artemis/Tigress thing is confusing you; I use Tigress for things she does under her guise and Artemis for her thoughts, feeling and things she says and does as herself. Thank you for giving me your time!