Disclaimer: Guys, it's the same as always. I'll message you all when the status quo changes.

Author's Note: Thanks foe everyone who reviewed! I know the last chapter was a tad bit dry...so here's what you've all been waiting for! I decided my author's note this time round should be different: short, sweet and to the point

"Why can't I come with you?" Artemis whined. She knew she was whining and she knew that he hated it, so she whined even louder. "Come on!" Green Arrow grimaced and shook his head. He knew that Artemis was doing this on purpose because she knew it drove him crazy.

"No. This is League business. No sidekicks." Artemis stumbled backwards, her hand over her heart, eyes wide, gasping.

"Is that all I am to you? I thought that we were partners!" For a second GA flashed back to Speedy – or, now he was calling himself Red Arrow, apparently – saying those exact same words and felt for the first time like he was going to give in. Then he saw the spark of laughter in Artemis's eyes and stomped on that feeling.

"Uh huh, but you're a junior partner. And a convicted criminal in twenty-three states. And Canada. Do you know how hard it is to piss off Canadians?" Artemis smiled and did a little curtsey, remembering that certain incident fondly. It was one of the few Lawrence-mandated tests where she'd genuinely had fun. Great country, Canada.

"It's a gift. But that's beside the point, and you only know about my record because I told you, so why can't I come! I can help!"

"It isn't that kind of mission." GA said, picking his words carefully.

"Right, because the death match with the super-robot was this morning. Sorry, I forgot. Oh wait, no I didn't because you didn't let me come! Bin bí mit giht," Artemis grumbled in Vietnamese. Secretive jerk.

"Don't start. I thought you hated it when people spoke in Vietnamese and you didn't understand it."

"No, no. Silly Obi Wan. I hate it when my mother did it because I couldn't understand what she was saying. Now that I can do it to other people, it's actually quite gratifying."

Green Arrow laughed. "You're still not coming."

"But – " Artemis protested.

"Not. Coming."

"Fine." Artemis grumbled, then perked up. "But I'm going to raid your fridge and go through your stuff." She laughed evilly. GA was surprised by her antics. Sometimes, he forgot that she was only fifteen. He wasn't worried about the "going through your stuff" bit. Everything worth stealing was highly encrypted on his computer or locked up tight in a safe hidden behind a painting on the wall.

"Do what you must. But I have to go now. See you later, kid." Green Arrow waved and walked out of the door. Artemis waited until his footsteps disappeared down the hall, then jumped up and made good on her promise. She rushed over to the fridge, grabbed a soda and a took a carton of ice cream out of the freezer. Slowly fixing herself a bowl, Artemis sat in front of the T.V. and finished her snack. She was being slow and it was killing her, but she had to make sure that Green Arrow wasn't going to come back and catch her snooping. Finally, she decided that she was safe and rushed into the office.

"Okay, Team...the Team. Where are you?" Artemis murmured to herself, searching through the computer. She'd returned the file she'd stolen to GA's apartment the next morning and, apparently, he never knew that it was gone. The Team was a covert group of sidekicks that was being sent on missions for the League. Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad were already famous, so Artemis figured the Team's secrecy was to protect them. But the two others, Miss Martian and Superboy? She'd never heard of them. The file wasn't detailed on who they were – there was nothing about their secret I.D's or anything – but she knew that Superboy (and damn he was hot) was a clone of Superman and Miss Martian actually was a Martian – the niece of J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, to be exact. Huh, and they said that I'm Green Arrow's niece too, Artemis thought absently. But beyond who they worked with, the file didn't mention anything else.

Access Denied. The computer reprimanded. Artemis slapped the desk and changed tactics. Okay, she thought, think about it like you're breaking into a house. I couldn't get in through the front door...there has to be a window entrance. She went into the mainframe through a ghost drive...closer...closer...yes! Artemis was in. Files and photos flashed on the screen but a certain one caught her eye and she clicked on it. A missions list? There were only a few...and one from today? The file must've been automatically updated whenever the kids went on a mission. So what was it this evening...? What the hell? They had to make sure that some parts of the Amazo robot stayed safe! That was the android that GA and the entire League had been fighting just that afternoon! According to Green Arrow, it had taken them four hours to disable the thing, and now they were letting sidekicks handle its pieces? Did that sound like a bad idea to anyone else but her? If this android was so powerful, whoever made it must've wanted to get it back, and yet the League was still willing to let their sidekicks into the line of fire and transport the thing.

Somewhere in the back of Artemis's brain, a light bulb clicked on.

"Oh, duh!" she shouted aloud. That's where Green Arrow must be! No wonder he wouldn't tell her what he was doing. Artemis should've known that something was up; GA had always been straight with her about what kind of work he was going with the League. She couldn't believe she hadn't figured it out earlier. Now all she had to do was figure out where they were. Artemis knew that GA wouldn't want her to get involved, but she could help! Well, that's what she told herself. Mostly, thought, her curiosity was killing her. That, and her temper, were her two fatal flaws. Paula said they would get her in trouble. Green Arrow said they would get her killed. Artemis thought they were driving forces and she liked batting against a thousand. It made things interesting.

Artemis turned back to the computer, trying to get into the League mainframe. She knew that every hero's computer held a link to access it...if she could only find it she could – probably, if she was lucky, really, really lucky – she might be able to piggyback onto Robin's tracking device and find out where they were headed. The fact that all the heroes had separate tracking devices embedded into their suits was something that Artemis had found out from Green Arrow – even her costume could be tracked – and was an aspect of heroism that didn't exactly make her feel comfortable. But she turned her focus back to the computer, again using the ghost drive to unencrypt a file on the computer. Bingo! It was a transfer link into the League's mainframe. Artemis glowed with pride knowing that she was good enough to hack into the system, then pulled up the tracking files for the sidekicks. Aqualad, no, she didn't know who he was...Miss Martian, no. Wait a second. Those two were together...but the other three...were in Gotham? Hold up...

Artemis zeroed in on Robin's tracking device and saw that he was heading towards Gotham Academy. That's not where they were supposed to be going...what had gone wrong? Now Artemis knew that she had to go and help. Without hesitation, she changed into her costume and grabbed her gear, then rushed out of the window and ran, jumped, and grappled (with the help of her gun) to the Zeta station/barely used decrepit old phone booth. Taking a deep breath, Artemis prepared to beam herself to Gotham. This is no time to be squeamish, she chided herself. Suck it up and go. She took another steadying breath and did, hitting the button that send her molecules flying through the air, landing in Gotham in record time.

Bursting out of the Zeta station, Artemis tore through the streets, not bothering to stop and hot-wire a car, there just wasn't enough time! When she arrived at the school, it looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to parts of the walls – they'd been completely destroyed. Artemis briefly felt a flash of admiration for anything with that kind of destructive power, right before a wave of pure paralysis came over her. Within seconds, she was incapacitated, and it wasn't by any means but her own. This was where Athena had died. Where she'd been murdered and now Artemis couldn't move.

No! Artemis thought desperately. No, this can't be happening now. I can't let anyone else get hurt because I failed to act. Goddammit I have to move! But it wasn't working. From inside the building, Artemis could hear explosions and the loud, obnoxious sound of crumbling concrete and drywall. She had to get in there. NOW!

Then, like before, Artemis could hear Athena's voice in her head. You can help them, Artie. Athena said, almost sounding cheerful. They need you right now and right now you need to move. It wasn't your fault, what happened to me. This place can't become a handicap for you, you're too strong for that. Now go, go save the day.

"Athena..." Artemis whispered, almost reverently. Then she jerked forward as if she'd been pushed and, finding that she could move again, raced into the building with a new sense of purpose. Athena forgives me, she thought. She wants me to do this. Those thoughts gave her strength and power and Artemis leapt through the hole in the wall and followed the cacophonous noise into the Gotham Academy's enormous gymnasium.

The first thing Artemis noticed was the the sidekicks were clearly losing. The Amazo robot was huge – taller than Lawrence, even – and it was kicking their butts. On the bleachers sat a man surrounded by...robot monkeys? What? But he was watching the spectacle, laughing and cheering as if it was a high school basketball game, as opposed to a death-match and that really pissed her off. Artemis dashed towards the gangly, red-headed man, figuring that he was somehow connected to the android. Take him down and the robot might be disabled as well. Luckily for her, only three of the sidekicks were present in the gym – Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy – and they were too busy fighting Amazo to pay attention to a girl dressed in green entering the scene. The man, too entertained by the demise of the teens in front of him, didn't notice her either. She nocked an arrow and was preparing to let it go, right in the man's chest, when she heard the robot speak.

"Access Superman," it rumbled, picking up Kid Flash as he ran past like he weighed nothing at all and constricting its arms, crushing him. The boy cried out and Artemis wheeled, sending the arrow right at the robot. A lesser archer would've hit the sidekick for sure, but Artemis's aim was dead on.

"Martian Manhunter," the android said in it's gravely, monotonous voice. Somehow, it channeled the alien's powers and the arrow flew right through the robot. Not exactly the effect she'd wanted, but the android effectively dropped Kid Flash, allowing him to speed out of the robot's range. But, because she couldn't just save a kid's life and get away cleanly, her arrow had landed right in front of Robin. Needless to say, he looked up and saw her. Of course, Artemis thought. It just figures, doesn't it? But she didn't let her thoughts show, waving at Boy Wonder and taking off, through the window behind her. Of course he would recognize her, even in her brand new superhero costume. The window shattered as Artemis slammed through it, but she shrugged it off. A little more property damage wouldn't inconvenience the school any more than it already was.

The window she escaped out of led into the courtyard and Artemis felt another crippling wave of paralysis. Only this time it was worse, so much worse. The pleasant nighttime scene around her evaporated and she could hear the gunshot, feel her heartbeat ratchet up as her feet pounded against the marble, but she'd been too late; and Artemis saw Athena crumple and fall to the ground, blood spurting from a gruesome bullet wound in her chest.

"Wait!" a single word snapped Artemis out of her reverie and she spun, bow at the ready, not really seeing Robin in front of her, but instead seeing Lawrence as he shot Athena. "Whoa whoa! Calm down." Boy Wonder put his hands up. "What are you doing here?" he looked her up and down. "And what's with the outfit?"

"She's dead." Artemis whispered, tremors wracking her body. "I couldn't save her, and now...she's dead." The bow in her hand trembled violently. Robin lithely stepped out of range and moved closer.

"Hey, what happened to you? What happened after that night?" Artemis forced herself back into reality as fast she she'd departed.

"What, you don't know?" she said mockingly, all vulnerability gone in an instant. "Good. And you're welcome, bird boy. I just saved your teammate." Robin's mouth dropped open a fraction and Artemis laughed. "You thought that I wouldn't find out?" Artemis paused, hearing noise from inside the building. No, she didn't want anyone else to know about her just yet. "I'm cashing in a favor." she said decisively.

"A favor?" Robin parroted, flabbergasted. "What makes you think that I owe – "

Artemis cut him off easily. "Well, let's think, shall we? Okay there was sparing your life the first time we met, saving you from Cheshire and my – Sportsmaster," she ticked each time she'd saved the Boy Wonder off of her fingers. "Poisoning myself so I could give you the antidote and almost getting arrested, and then there was – "

"Alright, alright!" Robin snapped irritably. "What do you want?"

"I was never here." Artemis leaned in close to the boy. "You didn't see anything. I don't care who you blame for the arrow: Green Arrow, Speedy, I could care less, but your team will not know I exist. Get it?" Sullenly, Robin nodded.

"Fine." he snapped.

"Good." She smiled widely. "Oh, don't be so down, birdie. That's one favor down, you only have three to go." Okay, she decided, time to leave. Artemis quietly grabbed a pinch of powder from her utility belt and held it behind her back. Another trick from Cheshire that would come in handy. "Tam biit, ít chim," she trilled. Goodbye, little bird. Then Artemis dropped the powder to the ground and it exploded into a violent, smoky storm that left Robin coughing and incapacitated, and allowed Artemis to get away.

"Remember," her voice echoed through the courtyard. "I was never here."

"She was there." Batman told Green Arrow after they'd debriefed the team. The archer nodded, he'd had the same suspicions when Robin dramatically accused him of interfering with the mission, then exclaimed that it must've been Speedy when his arrow didn't match the one that had been shot through the Amazo android. Robin knew as well as Green Arrow did that Speedy – Red Arrow – didn't want anything to do with the Team. He thought they were a joke.

"I know."

"Did you tell her?" Batman accused.

"No!" GA snapped. "You said to keep it confidential and I did."

"But you never had problems with releasing League secrets to your sidekicks before. Why start now?" That hurt. Just because he'd told S – Red Arrow about the Watchtower didn't mean he couldn't keep something as vital as the Team a secret from Artemis. He knew that she was still dangerous and that Batman wanted to wait to see if she could handle their lifestyle before she was initiated.

"At least she didn't kill anyone. She actually saved Kid Flash!"

"That is inconsequential. How did she find out if you didn't tell her?"

"I don't know," GA retorted. "She's smart. There are any number of ways she could've found out. The question you should be asking is 'how are we going to deal with it?'"

"You need to talk to her and find out what she knows." Batman ordered. "And how she figured everything out."

"Fine," Green Arrow grumbled. He didn't like taking orders – especially about his protégés – and he didn't want to think that his assumptions about Artemis had been wrong. He'd decided to trust her completely, except where the Team was concerned, as per orders from Batman, and he didn't want those confidences betrayed. "I'm going now. She's probably still at my place."

"You told her where you live?" Batman sounded surprised. He obviously still thought that Artemis was still a threat.

"Yes." GA said, quickly losing patience. "I'll report back to you within an hour."

Artemis looked up from the television when she heard GA enter the apartment.

"Yo, Obi Wan?" Artemis called. Stony silence echoed back at her. Artemis twisted so that she could see her mentor. Oliver was in his civvies and his usually smiling face was somber. "Oh crap. What happened? Is everything alright?" Oliver didn't say anything, just stared at her, his eyes hard.

"Are you still mad about me out-shooting you the other day in training? Because that was just pure skill on my part. And besides, everyone has off days."

"So where were you tonight?" Oliver asked abruptly.

"Um, here?" Artemis said. "Okay, seriously, what is up with you? You're sounding like Batman." Oliver stiffened.

"I think you're lying. Artemis, so just stop it now. I need to trust you and the League needs to trust you, so I'm going to cut to the chase: how did you find out about the Team?" For a moment, Artemis debated her options. She could keep lying and Oliver might find her out – but he actually knew the truth, so that might not work out so well – or she could tell the truth and he'd be majorly pissed that she'd hacked his computer and stolen a classified file from his apartment. Either way he wasn't going to be happy.

"I found a file on it." Artemis mumbled. What had her mother always told her, honesty being a policy or something? "And I got into the League mainframe and found Robin's tracker and followed the signal to Gotham." Something occurred to her.

"Wait. How do you know that I was there?" she demanded.

"You let Robin see you. He's a good actor, maybe even as good as you, but not good enough to fool both of us." Oh crap, Batman knew that she was there too. Ooh, he was going to be mad. And Artemis already knew that the Dark Knight wasn't her biggest fan.

"Yeah well I'm sorry I wasn't exactly composed in the place where my sister was murdered!" Artemis spat, suddenly emotional and defensive. Oliver stopped and stared.

"She was killed at Gotham Academy?" he asked softly.

"Yeah she was. Whatever. So are you going to chew me out for breaking into your computer or not, because I'd rather get the lecture over with if you wouldn't mind."

"I'm not going to yell at you, kid. I'm proud that you told me the truth, actually. And the fact that you got into my computer is very impressive." Why was he commending her?

"I'm sensing a 'but' in here somewhere." Artemis said, still playing defense. There was no way she was getting away with everything scot-free. A lifetime's worth of suspicions rose to the surface. There had to be a catch.

"You're right. It's all very good, and you've come a long way from just a few weeks ago, but," the emphasis on the word made Artemis cringe. "I can't keep you to myself for any longer."

"What are you talking about?" Artemis demanded.

"That team you illegally found out about? Yeah, you'll be seeing a lot more of them. You're in, Princess Leia, and they need an archer. And after today's events, it's clear that they need you."

Likes, loves, hates? I want to know so review and tell me so that I can address any problems! And I'm going on vacation tomorrow so no more updates until next Thursday! Sorry!

~Fae