*Artemis Crock*

I guess I thought hanging out with Barbara would be a bit of a chore. Turns out she was a lot of fun. After the skating rink we both went to a local burger joint. She talked a lot about Dick, apparently they'd been friends for years. She didn't mention anything about his kidnapping on Monday. Looks like the kid kept his mouth shut after all.

Speaking of Dick, the whole thing where Wally had held his hand and had said "Found you" made much more sense. Wally had a crush on Dick before then which meant that they already knew each other. How was Wally able to become friends with the ward of Gotham's billionaire playboy? Did Dick know that Wally was Kid Flash? Probably not, since he had looked extremely confused when Wally had grabbed his hand but still, I needed to know. Next time I saw Wally, I was definitely going to ask.

When Barbara and I parted ways, I found myself heading straight home. I wasn't in the mood to go to the Cave to train. Normally I'd be out with Green Arrow but he's been working alongside Red Arrow trying to find the real Roy Harper lately. I'm not too upset about that. Red Arrow had worked alongside Green Arrow for so long, I understood the bond they had formed. Green Arrow had invited me to help them out but I knew it wasn't my place. This was something Red Arrow had to do.

When I opened the door to my house, I could hear the comforting sound of my mother's humming coming from the kitchen.

"Hey mom," I yelled, shutting the door behind me. I walked to the living room and dumped my schoolbag onto the coffee table, sprawling myself out on the couch.

"Artemis!" my mother cried and I saw her wheel herself into the living room from the kitchen. "Good thing you're home. An old friend of yours is waiting in your room for you."

I quickly sat up in my bed. "Mom!" I cried before lowering my voice to a whisper. "You can't just assume that when someone says they're my friend that they're telling the truth. It could be some psycho." I reached under the couch and retrieved one of my emergency bows that came with a single arrow.

"Artemis, sweetie. I recognized him," my mom said, quickly wheeling over to me and putting a hand on my arm. I quickly froze. She recognized him? She recognized an 'old friend' and had trusted him enough to let him wait in my room? That could only mean one thing…

I dropped the bow on the couch and quickly ran to my room, thrusting the door open. Even though I was expecting it, I still couldn't get away from the surprise that I felt bubbling in my stomach when I saw Cameron looking at me from his spot on my bed.

He gave me a small smile as I stared at him, totally not believing that he was actually here right now. What did he want? "Your mom let me in," he explained, gesturing at the door. Of course my mom let him in. She was still around when Cameron and I had just started to become friends as kids. She liked the kid.

"You need something?" I asked, shutting the door behind me. I was a little ticked that he was here. Sure, we had been pretty close back then and I might even possibly be harboring slight feelings for him but he was still a villain. Whether I liked him or not didn't change that. No matter how hard I wanted it to.

"Yes," Cam said with a nod, sliding off the bed. "Artemis, I came to warn you."

"Warn me? Does Pops know you're here?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Artemis! You're more important to me!" he said forcefully with a frown. I uncrossed my arms and looked at him surprised. "You have to listen to me, Artemis. Nathan… that kid who looks like Robin. He's nuts alright? I don't know what he has planned. The Light's just letting him run wild."

"Wild how?" I asked skeptically.

"I don't know! He's supposed to 'target' someone. The Light gave me orders to keep him on track without asking what his actual plan is. I feel like such a babysitter," Cam rolled his eyes. "But anyway, the Light's been using him and I don't know how. He's crazy, Artemis!" He grabbed onto my shoulders desperately and stared into my eyes. "I don't want you hurt Artemis! You need to be careful around him!"

I opened my mouth to say something but no words came out. Why was Cam so concerned about me? Sure, he was still my friend. He had come into the cell when Grayson and I had been kidnapped and allowed me to cry on his shoulder. Gosh, I needed that. But still, I didn't think he had the guts to sneak away and come warn me about Nathan Prince.

"Artemis please!" Cam cried before crashing his lips against mine. I made a surprised noise at the sudden gesture and stood there dumbfounded, not quite sure what to do. Cam's hands moved down from my shoulders and gripped onto my hips.

A relationship would never work out between the two of us. It just wouldn't. I don't care what Grayson said. Trying it out would only make things worse. But there was something that I had told Grayson that was a total lie. I did have feelings for Cam. I did like him like that. And right now, his kiss was sending shivers down my back and my heart rate increased dramatically.

I moved my arms around his neck hesitatingly before beginning to push back against his lips. I felt him smile against my mouth and yanked his head down to deepen the kiss. My mind was sending off all sorts of alarms. This was wrong. He was still on the bad side. He had tried to take out my friends several times. He could only be warning and kissing me under order of the Light. There were so many reasons not to be kissing him right now.

But the spark that I felt when kissing him was enough to make me ignore all of that. I liked Cam. A lot. I wanted to kiss him. And I was going to do it.

When we parted for air, Cam pulled me tightly against his chest. "Promise me you'll be careful," he said into my hair.

"I promise," I mumbled, gripping onto him tight.

"I better go." I reluctantly dropped my arms and stepped away from him, looking at the ground.

"Yeah okay." I couldn't keep the disappointment out of my voice. Why couldn't he stay? Why couldn't he stop being stupid and just switch sides already?

He gave me a soft kiss on my forehead and a soft smile. Then, with a look of dread in his eyes, he walked out of my room. "I better get going. It's been good seeing you Ms. Crock," I heard Cam say from the living room. I smiled a little until I heard the front door of my apartment close.

I sat down on the side of my bed, propping my elbow on my knee and burying my face into my hand. What was I getting myself into?

There was a slight rapping on the window and I looked up to see a shadowy figure. My first thought was that Wally was back, probably to explain the video. But looking closer, the figure was too small to be Wally and had a cape. Robin. I pulled up the blinds and saw the smirking boy waving at me. I rolled my eyes and opened the window.

"Come on Artemis, we're heading to the Cave," he said waving me out.

"We're going where now?" I asked confused, grabbing my costume.

"The Cave! Batgirl got Prince." He explained. I began to gather my bow and quiver, slinging it over my shoulder.

"Batgirl, huh?" I asked with my eyebrows raised. "Where'd she come from?"

"We've been training her for a while. I'll explain later. We need to get to the Cave. Kid Flash and Aqualad are already on their way." Robin said quickly. I shook my head but couldn't help but smile. With my costume and weapons in hand, I followed Robin out my bedroom window and we made our way to the zeta tube.

*xoOox*

*Robin/Dick Grayson*

I stared at him through the glass and he looked back at me, a smirk on his face. Of course it was one of those double-sided windows so Prince was actually staring at a mirror. He knew I was looking at him, though. He knew I was glaring angrily.

"Want to tell us about Batgirl now?" Artemis said from behind me. I turned around to see the rest of the Team had entered the room behind me.

"What's a Batgirl?" Zatanna asked frowning at me.

"Another protégé for Batman," I said, turning to look back at Prince. "We've been training her for a few months after she showed a real sense of justice after throwing herself into a fight with Killer Moth in order to protect Bruce Wayne. She was a gifted fighter so all we really needed to work on was her detective skills which she actually caught onto quite quickly."

A hand on my shoulder suddenly turned me around, forcing me to look at my teammates. I was surprised to find the hand belonged to Artemis. "What? Is she your replacement or something? Are you quitting the hero gig?"

I almost laughed at her. "Quitting? No! She's just someone else Batman's taken under his wing. You can never have too many heroes."

"So is she joining the Team?" Zatanna asked, her hands on her hips.

I shook my head. "No. For some reason, Barbara doesn't want to join the Team. Something about 'earning a spot' or something."

Artemis eyes grew wide. "Barbara?"

I nodded my head, trying not to smile. "Yeah. Barbara Gordon. She's the daughter of Commissioner James Gordon. I think she goes to Gotham Academy too. Do you know her?"

All eyes were on Artemis as she stood there awkwardly. "Yeah. I know her. She's friends with Bruce Wayne's ward Dick Grayson."

"Dick Grayson!" M'Gann screamed, realization striking her face. "That reminds me!" She turned her attention to Wally who had been leaning against the door frame of the small room. "When were you going to tell us you were in a relationship with Dick Grayson?!" He blinked at her, surprised. "I saw you two on television not even an hour ago," she clarified. Oh, so that video was already on the gossip channels.

Wally's face began to turn red and he bit his lip, his eyes bouncing across the faces of the Team. "Sorry, M'Gann. I should've told you."

"So it's true?" Zatanna asked obviously shocked. Wally nodded his head slowly, his face red from embarrassment but unable to hide the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

"Does he know you're Kid Flash?" Artemis asked. Huh… I never really thought about Dick Grayson knowing Kid Flash's identity. You'd think that would be something I'd be concerned about.

"No!" Wally screamed immediately, his eyes wide as he answered. "He doesn't know at all!"

M'Gann then looked at me. "Robin, did you know about this?"

I laughed loudly. "Are you kidding? Of course I knew! He can't date someone from my own city and I not know about it! Besides, Wally doesn't know how to be sneaky enough to keep something like that a secret."

"Hey!" Wally cried, his lip pouting.

"You did get caught and recorded by some random high school kid," I pointed out. He glared at me and his jaw clenched. On the outside it just looked like he was frustrated that I was making fun of him. Inside, though, I knew he was screaming 'You got caught too!' but he couldn't say that aloud, now could he? I allowed myself this small victory.

Suddenly M'Gann jumped at Wally, crushing him in a hug. "Wally! I'm so happy for you!"

Wally looked at her confused. "What?"

M'Gann smiled at him cheerfully. "I'm so glad you found someone! And you looked so happy in that video! Tell us, what's he like?"

Wally, still looking shocked, looked from M'Gann's face to everyone else's and his face lite up. The Team was smiling at him, showing their obvious approval of his relationship with a male and that they were honestly happy for him.

"Well he's nothing like the rich snobby brat you'd imagine he'd be," he said with a large smile. I felt myself beginning to blush and I turned back around, looking at Prince again who had yet to stop smirking at the mirror. "He's smart and nice and wonderful and he actually cares for me." I bit my lip. I couldn't help but think about how I had rejected him when he had originally confessed. I felt myself beginning to grow guilty.

"And when we're together I feel so happy and…" I tuned him out then. I couldn't hear anymore. It was making me blush. It was making me smile. It was making me feel guilty. His love for me definitely seemed to outweigh my love for him. There was no doubt in my mind that I loved him. God, I loved him. But while I was quieter about my feelings, here Wally was practically bursting with happiness over the fact that we were together. Did Wally want me to talk about him like this too? Has he ever seriously doubted my love because I wasn't as forward about it?

"Robin?" I heard Artemis ask in a soft whisper. I looked up over at her. She was standing right next to me. I guess I was so absorbed in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed. "Can we go somewhere to talk?"

Talk? About what?

"Sure," I said with a nod of my head. Noticing that the main door was blocked by a certain speedster bragging about his boyfriend, Artemis led me out the back door which put us in a small narrow hallway that would lead us the locker rooms and showers.

Artemis continued to walk us down the hallway until we were a little ways away from the interrogation rooms. We stopped right in front of the archway that led to the locker rooms. She turned to face me, her eyes glowing with a fierce seriousness. "Robin, I just wanted to let you know that I don't think Wally's lying."

I frowned at her. "What?"

"About Dick. I don't think he's using him or anything. I met the kid. He doesn't seem to be the type to want to use Wally or allow himself to be used. I think this is an honest relationship." She leaned against the wall, folding her arms. "Actually, I think that they've known each other a while… Remember when I was kidnapped?" I nodded my head. I remember that vividly. "Well I wasn't alone. Grayson was kidnapped with me. He had asked that we didn't advertise that little fact so we decided to keep it a secret. But I guess you already knew that, being Batman's protégé and all."

I nodded my head. I did know that. It had nothing to do with being Batman's protégé though. "Well when Wally and Batman rescued us, Wally acted really concerned about Grayson. Grayson, of course, was completely oblivious," she chuckled at the memory. "So I really think this isn't just some phase or whatever."

I didn't know what to say. Wally had always told me how much he liked me and how his feelings just wouldn't go away, that he cared about me too much. Hearing it from someone else, though, was sending my emotions on a roller coaster. Especially since this wasn't something Wally had told her, it was something she had noticed herself.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked, honestly wondering. We had already talked about how he was going to pursue a real relationship after everything with Leslie, so what brought this up?

She looked surprised. "Your face, when Wally was talking about Grayson. You seemed a little… I don't know, angry?"

"Oh, I was thinking about Prince is all," I lied with a wave of my hand. "The whole thing with him just pisses me off."

"Oh…" Artemis said, obviously embarrassed at her misunderstanding.

"But thanks for telling me anyways," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "It's always good to hear that Wally's having true intentions."

She smiled at me and then we made our way back to where the rest of the Team was standing around. The conversation had shifted from Wally's new boyfriend to Prince.

"I could read his mind," I heard M'Gann offer as I followed Artemis through the doorway.

"Come with me in there," I told her, gesturing her to follow me to the interrogation room. "I'll ask questions and you can read his mind for his reactions."

"Wait…" Conner spoke up, stopping M'Gann and I in our tracks. "You are going to interrogate him?"

"Yes," I said with a frown. Why wouldn't I interrogate him? Who else would do it? M'Gann looked just as confused as I was.

"Well… I just… I think…" Conner stumbled over his words, rubbing his neck awkwardly as he tried to find the right words.

"What I think Conner is trying to say is that it might not be the wisest choice. Especially since Prince has undergone surgeries to look just like you. This may be a bit personal for you," Kaldur spoke up, waving his hand at Prince who was still smirking at the mirror.

"It is a bit personal for me," I said, walking away. "And that's exactly why I'm going to do it." The Team was silent as I walked into the interrogation room, M'Gann right on my heels.

Nathan greeted us with a smile and leaned back in the chair comfortably. "Knew it'd be you."

I plopped into the chair across from him and glared. "Would you have talked to anyone else?"

The corner of his lip curled up and he crossed his arms. "Don't think so. But I won't be talking to you either. It'll ruin the game."

"What game?" I asked. He smirked at me, the folds of his mask coming up. Why was that still on, anyways? I quickly leaned over and gripped the edge of it, tearing it from his face. I heard M'Gann gasp slightly but Nathan just continued to sit there, smirking at me.

"Telling you is against the rules Rob. But don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."

'I'm having trouble reading his mind.' M'Gann said to me telepatheically. 'It's like his mind was trained against telepathy.'

'Psimon,' I thought, recalling Prince's conversation with Cameron.

'Yes but it would've taken years of training to build up a resistance like this. Especially since he's an average human.'

'I'm sensing a sort of after taste of a spell performed on him a few months ago,' I heard Zatanna say through the link. 'It may have something to do with his resistance to M'Gann's telepathy. I don't think my magic is going to make him talk either.'

Well this was just awesome. We finally catch the idiot and we can't get any information. The Light has put some serious thought into Nathan. But why? What's so special about him? This kind of thorough thinking and planning must be for something big. What part did Nathan play? Was he just a distraction? Did Nathan even know his own role in the bigger picture?

'One thing's been really bothering me lately,' Wally's voice said over the link.

"Talking with your friends telepathically? Fun," Nathan said with a smirk. I ignored him.

'Which member of the Light is he working for?' Wally asked.

'What do you mean?' Artemis said.

'Well we've concluded that the League of Shadows is the one who reconstructed his face, since we first saw him with Sportsmaster. Now we have evidence that he could've been helping Queen Bee and Klarion, even possibly being under their tutelage.' Wally continued. 'So is Nathan working for the Light as a whole or is he specific to one member?'

So many questions surrounding this stupid boy.

"I'll tell you this though," Nathan said, breaking me from my thoughts. "I will win my game. I will come out on top. And you? You're going to have the greatest super villain origin story ever." Nathan jabbed a thumb at himself. "And it'll be all thanks to me."

"I don't think that'll happen," I said, standing up. This wasn't going anywhere and it was useless to try and pretend that it was.

"Uh huh sure," Nathan said as I began to leave. "Tell that hot girlfriend of yours I said hi." I whipped my head around and glared at him. Babs wasn't my girlfriend. Far from it. She was one of the closest friends I had and I wasn't about to deal with this.

I stormed back over to Nathan, gripping his shirt and hoisting him up to eye level. "If this is a threat I swear I'll-" That's when he cut me off. Not with a punch or a kick or even words. No. The damn kid kissed me.

I threw him back into his chair but the force knocked him over, causing him and the chair to tumble to the ground.

'Holy shit' Artemis said through the link.

'M'Gann. Cut the link,' I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I wasn't in the mood for hearing the Team's reactions. Plus, who knows what kind of jealous thoughts of Wally's would trickle into the link.

Nathan chuckled slightly, slowly standing up while giving me an amused look. I glared at him, waiting for him to say something. "That super villain origin story? It's already started." With a final glare I fast walked out of the room, M'Gann right behind me.

This was bothering me way more than it should.

Okay so I'm going to give credit where credit is due: I was having writer's block and someone else's fanfic helped me through it. It's called Playing with Fire by AngelWithAStory [Thanks sweetfoxgirl13]. It's really good. I suggest reading it. A large thanks goes out to that author. I had no idea how to handle my own interrogation scene and your fic was exactly what I needed.