"She isn't 'the brat'. She isn't 'the bitch'. She's Artemis"

Artemis POV

Needless to say, Wally was grinning like an idiot and I(who had woken up when I heard someone yell at Miss Martian) was smiling softly at M'gaan. Then I remembered, Miss Martian has telepathy, right?

"Thank you. Thank you so much," I thought. Miss Martian sent a smile my way. "Of course."

Then I frowned. There was still something I wanted to know. "But, why are you sticking up for me? Because I stuck up for you?"

M'gaan shook her head. "Well, yes and no. You sticking up for me got me curious as to why you did it, because villains don't usually do that. And the fact that Wally felt so protective of you got me thinking as well."

I was grateful, but confused. "Protective? What do you mean?"

M'gaan smiled and shook her head. "Nevermind. Just know that I'll vouch for you."

Robin looked back and forth between the two, then looked at M'gaan. "-ving a psychic conversation?"

"Yup. And you just joined the chat!" Miss Martian's cheery voice rang in my head.

"Oh. Hey, Artemis? Can you hear me?" I saw Robin looking at me and nodded. He smiled.

"Listen, I'm sorry about Red. He can be a real jerk at times."

"Its ok." I replied.

Robin scratched the back of his neck. "So…I heard you've had a rough history."

I tensed up. "Do you want to talk about it?" Robin asked gently.

I buried my face into Wally's chest. "No. No, I don't."

I opened one eye to see Wally looking down at me with concern and confusion. Then he looked around and must have seen the looks Robin and Miss Martian were shooting my way.

"Were you guys having a mental conversation?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Robin answered. Wally narrowed his eyes. "Dude, I know her dad is a bad guy, but would you just-"

"Wally, they were being nice to me," I said, defending them. "Miss Martian said she'd vouch for me and Robin was apologizing for what Red Arrow said." I said the last part quietly. I didn't want Red, Arrow to hear me, but luck wasn't on my side.

I heard Red Arrow scoff. "Well,I'm not." Then he doubled over, clutching his head and screaming in pain. Which led to Superboy covering his ears while grimacing in pain and me burying myself in Wally again. Red Arrow looked back at Miss Martian.

"What was that for?!" he demanded.

Miss Martian looked at him. "That was for being a selfish jerk. Why don't you try giving her a chance, like you did for me?" she questioned with a piercing glare.

"Because she's the bad guy. We're supposed to be rude to bad guys, not give them a chance!"

Wally suddenly looked up. "She isn't the bad guy! If anything, she's the victim!"

Robin nodded in agreement. "KF's right. Artemis is the daughter of a villain, and that can't be fun growing up with."

I whimpered then closed my mouth quickly because I'm a Crock, and Crocks don't whimper and cry. There was a silence.

"Artemis? Are you ok?" Kid Flash asked gently. I looked up and saw him staring down at me with pity and sadness in his eyes. Looked around and saw pretty much the same expression on everyone's face except for Red Arrow's.

Artemis took a breath. "Yea. Yea, I'm good."

Wally shot me a gentle smile and adjusted his grip, pulling me closer to him. I snuggled up closer to him and let out a content sigh.

"I'll protect you. I promise," came Wally's voice. I was almost asleep and barely heard him, but I did.

"Thank you," I mumbled, drifting off to sleep. But right before I slipped into my slumber, I heard Robin say, "She isn't the bad guy. Besides, what kind of bad guy can look this adorable?"