Artemis pinned him to the ground. Again.

She grinned, her hair falling close to his cheek. "Gotcha."

Robin smiled mischievously and yanked her forward, rolling both of them over so he was on top. He clicked his tongue as she cursed and writhed under him like a worm. "Don't underestimate me, Artie. Better start estimating, and fast."

She rolled her eyes.

His face was only six inches from hers, and his hands still held her forearms firmly to the floor, the FAIL template appearing on the platform beside them. His shoulders glistened with sweat, his hair was matted to his forehead, and Artemis wondered if he knew how adorable he was. You know, in a boyish...Robinish... kind of way. After a moment of both of them panting and staring at each other, he flipped backwards onto his feet, clearing his throat and helping her up.

Artemis grabbed a frozen water, breaking the ice on her knee and chugging. "Hey, you up for some pizza tonight?"

She threw him a bottle and he caught it without a blink. "I don't know. Batman wanted me to try out his new training regimen later…"

Artemis frowned. "Come on, Bats isn't that bad. He used to let you go out with us!"

Robin scratched his neck, and then his eyes shot up with apology. "I can't anyways…I just remembered I have something tonight."

He is so bad at lying to me. Artemis used to fall for his deception, but not anymore. She was learning. "Uh huh…what is it?"

He shrugged. "A date."

She nearly spit out all her water. Robin could date?! Was he even old enough, or tall enough to qualify for that kind of thing? Then she remembered that he was already fifteen.

Man time flies.

"You have…a date. Wow. With who?" She unconsciously crossed her arms.

He smiled. "You know…Zee."

She felt her fingernails pierce her skin. Ow. What the hell did she do that for? She didn't care that much...it was just her sisterly instincts. Yeah. Protective impulse. "Oh. I thought you two decided to just stay friends."

Robin seemed extremely uncomfortable. "Well, we did. And then after she moved to Gotham we became a lot closer. So yeah."

Artemis didn't know what was worse. The idea that Robin was making up such a fat lie to cover up the fact he just didn't like hanging out with her and Wally anymore, or that Zatanna didn't tell her they were dating. She was one of her closest girlfriends! Hello!

Either way, she was going to put him on the spot. Because she was Artemis. And she had a knack for making people uncomfortable. "Well, then we should have a double date."

He froze. "Uh..."

"Come on, it will be like old times!"

Robin bit his lip and nodded slowly, like he was contemplating all the possible worse-case scenarios. "Alright."

Artemis smiled. She really had missed hanging out with her little bird. "Okay, let's meet up at PizzaHarbor at eight!"

He nodded again, and she left him with his thoughts.


"You told her WHAT?"

Robin squirmed uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. Please just pretend we're together. Just for tonight."

The other end of the line was silent.

Robin waited, and then he became worried that she'd hung up on him. "Zee?"

She sighed. "Is this because you still have a crush on Artemis?"

He almost dropped his phone.

Why did everyone know about that? Was it that painfully obvious? Did Bruce know? Oh God. He face-palmed.

After sputtering out several meaningless words he managed, "H-How did you know?"

"I'm a magician; I have a talent for seeing things that are meant to be hidden. But I'll help you...because you're my friend...and I could use a new pair of shoes…"

Robin smiled. "Thanks a ton, Zee. I owe you."

"Yeah well, what else is new?"


Artemis cocked her eyebrow. Robin seemed really nervous, and he was usually so suave around the ladies. Especially Zatanna.

He sat down next to Wally, and Zee sat on her side of the booth, wearing an annoyingly beautiful outfit.

Robin smiled. "Wally, you already ate, didn't you?"

The speedster shrugged. "He man, eight o'clock is late...but I still have room for a few pizzas..."

They laughed as the waitress took their order.

Artemis tapped her nails on the table. "So Zee, when were you going to tell me you and Rob were a thing?"

So she was blunt. It was her quality, and others would just have to deal with it. Wally crossed his arms, glaring at the pair of younger friends.

Zatanna cleared her throat under their scrutinizing stares. "Oh it was nothing too serious until a few days ago..."

Robin nodded. "Yeah, 'Mis."

She crossed her arms. "Whatever..."

There was an awkward silence as they ate.

Wally couldn't keep his mouth shut for more than a couple minutes though. "This is weird..."

Robin scowled at his friend. "Why?"

"I don't know. You dating? It's bizarre. Especially so out of the blue."

"Wally, I'm only a year and half younger than you!"

"Yeah, but you're you. I don't know. It just gives me the creeps." Wally stuffed a huge bite of pizza into his mouth, ending the conversation there.

They sat at the table for a while longer, the familiar aroma of baked bread and pepperoni filling the small restaurant. Artemis found herself staring at the packets of parmesan cheese, pretending to read the labels when really thinking about how awkward this whole night was.

She didn't mean to set the mood that way. It just happened.

Then Robin went ghost white.

She followed his eyes to the muted television playing behind her. There was a news broadcast featuring the courthouse and a man named Tony Zucco. The subtitles across the bottom of the screen explained that the man had been released early for his crimes, and was currently leaving the parole hearing.

She turned back to Robin, whose hands were balled into fists, knuckles white and face stern. He looked really agitated.

Wally was also very tense, and she didn't know why. Did Bats have something to do with that guy? Why were they acting so freaked out?

Then Robin stood. "Sorry guys, I've got some work to do." He glanced at Zee apologetically. "Thanks, Zee. I'll see you around." He put down forty dollars, which would ultimately cover all of their meals, and then he left them at the booth, open mouthed. Well, her and Zatanna at least. Wally just looked like he had eaten one too many pizzas.

She turned to her boyfriend. "Is he okay?"

Wally's paleness faded and he shrugged. "You know how he is..." but his eyes said otherwise.

Robin didn't come to the Mountain the next morning. Wally told her it was nothing. She didn't believe him.


Robin was sitting at the Bat Computer system, mask off and cape wrapped around him. When he was upset he turned to hacking into the League's system and reading case files. It was a way to relieve his stress, to focus in on matters at hand that didn't concern his own problems. He could search the reports for hours on end, almost to the point of obsession. But then he'd feel a little more accomplished, a little more complete, and he could tear himself away. It was scary sometimes. He was becoming too much like Bruce.

He sighed.

They had gotten into another fight. But this time, Dick was justified. Bruce hadn't told him that Zucco was alive, let alone being let out of prison early! His mentor swore he only kept Zucco a secret to protect him, and that he just found out about the hearing yesterday, but it didn't matter. His words were sand.

Once again he felt like Bruce didn't trust him as a partner. As an equal.

But the truth hurts.

"Artemis, B07, access granted."

A bright light bloomed from the back of the cave and Robin jumped a foot in his chair, scrambling for his mask.

Artemis entered, smirking at him. "Don't have a heart attack, Rob."

He spun around, his mask barely on and the left half of his face red from leaning on his hand. "What-what are you doing here?!"

She frowned, coming forward and pushing his mask in the proper position. Her fingers brushed warmly across his cheeks, but the moment lasted briefly and the cold returned. "Nice to see you too."

He shook his head. "How did you get into the cave?"

She rolled her eyes. "You aren't the only one with hacking skills, you know..."

His frown tightened.

She pursed her lips. "Fine, I made Wally tell me the codes! But only because you acted so weird the other day and haven't spoken to anyone since!"

He hung his head and turned around. "It doesn't matter. You should go. Before Batman sees you."

"Yeah, I don't think so." She snagged his arm painfully. "What's your deal?"

Robin felt his stomach whirl. On the one hand it felt nice to have someone care. To be concerned. And yet he felt the urge to shut her out, like everyone else.

But she's not everyone else.

Torn, he just whispered, "I can't tell you, 'Mis."

Her grip loosened, and he faced her again.

She looked genuinely worried about him. "Okay. But I'm not liking this emo Robin thing. Will you just tell me why you are so freaking upset?"

He grinned. Something about her "shove it" attitude always made him laugh inside. "How about a tour of the Cave?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I know you're avoiding the question, but I'd like that."

His smile grew and he guided her towards the weapons compartment. They both had a thing for "toys", being non-metas and all.

"This, my friend, is a 16 mm sonic stun pellet..."