Questions:

GIRLWONDER to Robin: Hhuuuhhuuu yea whatever what if Zatanna liked to listen to it? Would you listen to it then?Cause if she does I would because Rob you are STUCK in the friend zone bigtime.
Robin: Um...I'm not sure what you want me to say...

ilovejesus14 to Black Canary: who is your favorite person to counsel and why?
Black Canary: I don't like to counsel any of them. Counseling means something terrible has happened.

Ravenhearst's questions:
To Superman: Have you maned-up and talked to Conner yet?
Superman: I have spoken with him in the past, though I don't believe it was for more than a few minutes at most.
To Red Arrow: Are you gonna save Cheshire or are you gonna let Arty do that?
Red Arrow: Why would I save a villainess?
To Artemis: ARE you gonna save your sister? And did you know Red Arrow and your sister are an 'it.' Meaning a couple.
Artemis: Of course I'm going to save her. As for Red Arrow...the less I know, the better.
To Conner: Does a hand on the shoulder and acknowledgement from the Big Guy count as something?
Connor: Probably.
To Raquel: How are the swimming lessons so far?
Raquel: Well...I can still float.

Burnin'BlackandBlue to Wally: What would you do if Artemis tried to go after her father alone?
Wally: Probably join the fight and then yell at her later for being an idiot.

So yeah, here's the chapter as well as a quick warning: My updates will not be consistent this summer. I have a full-time job and less free time. Don't kill me. Anyhow, enjoy.

"I think we should take a break."

"What?" Wally's green eyes filled with confusion. Artemis sighed.

"I said...I think we should take some time off." Artemis looked straight into his eyes, ignoring the other patrons at the small Starbucks they were in. She had chosen this spot since it was crowded and they had sat outside.

"Why?" Wally felt panic rising. "Did I do something wrong? I know that we haven't been on a real date in awhile but-"

"It's not that, Wally. I just can't do this right now."

"I don't believe you! What's going on?" Wally's voice turned hard.

"Nothing! It's just how I feel right now." Artemis said.

"Tell me the truth!" Wally grabbed her hand, but Artemis yanked it away.

"Fine! You want the truth? I feel like I'm tied down! I'm only sixteen, and I already have to deal with a lot of crap that I shouldn't have to. My dad wants to kill me, he has my sister, and I can barely keep a normal non-sidekick friend for more than a few months. I'm not prepared to deal with being infatuated with someone on top of all that!"

"This is all I am to you? An infatuation?" Wally's voice rose. "After all we've been through, I find that hard to believe."

"You don't have to! But you need to respect my space!" Artemis stood. Wally did too.

"Artemis, I love you. I thought you loved me too." Wally's green eyes were so full of confusion and pain, Artemis almost broke down. But she didn't.

"We're teenagers. What do we know about love? My mom loved my dad, and look where it got her. I don't know if I love you." Artemis felt her heart breaking at the look on Wally's face, but she ignored the looks from the other patrons and pressed on. "I need to figure out a few things for myself."

"Look me in the eyes and say it." Wally stood. Artemis stared straight in his eyes.

"I don't love you." Artemis turned to leave, but stopped when she heard a small voice behind her.

"Don't do this." Wally spoke so low Artemis almost thought she imagined it. She didn't even turn around to face him.

"I have to." Then Artemis walked away. Wally watched her go, knowing that he could catch up to her in less than a second. But he let her go.

Flashback

Artemis walked slowly through her house to her room. Her mom, Paula, was already sleeping. Artemis stopped outside her mom's room for a moment, and then spun around.

"What are you doing here?" Artemis spat the words.

"I just want to talk." Sportsmaster said. Truthfully, he was impressed that Artemis had managed to sense him so quickly. He stood in front of her, minus his mask.

"I want to kick your ass. Dad." Artemis managed to contain her voice. She didn't want to wake her mother up.

"I doubt you could even land a blow, little girl."

"Then let's take it outside and find out." Artemis narrowed her eyes at the man who had trained her. "You don't want to wake mom."

"I didn't come to fight, only to tell you that if you want your sister to walk free again, there are a few conditions." Sportsmaster crossed his arms.

"League members don't negotiate with the bad guys." Artemis hissed.

"You aren't a League member. You're a sidekick, a pity-case that Robin Hood took on out of some weird desire to change your life. Put you back on the straight and narrow and all that. But you're still just my little girl. And if you don't want to suddenly become an only child, you better listen to my conditions. Or is that boy more important to you than family?" He knew his words had cut Artemis deep. Artemis dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Speak. Then get out."

"That's my girl." Sportsmaster said with a smile.

Artemis walked slowly in a daze. She had long since stopped paying attention to her surroundings as her feet carried her to the nearest zeta-tube. Her face was stoic, but inside her heart was tearing itself apart.

"That was quite the performance." Sportsmaster, in his civilian disguise, stepped out the shadows and joined his daughter as she walked. "Where are you going?"

"Why do you care?" Artemis snapped. Sportsmaster frowned and grabbed his daughter's arm, forcing her into an alley.

"Don't get smart with me, little girl." He said in a dangerously quiet voice. "You did as I asked, but your sister isn't free yet." Artemis turned her face to look him in the eye. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but they are also filled with rage.

"What more do you want me to do? You know I can't sneak information for you without alerting Batman. I just broke the boy I love's heart into a million pieces! What more do you want from me?" Artemis matched her father's quiet voice.

"I want you to join the Shadows."

"Why? Why can't you leave me alone?" Artemis's voice started to rise. "I turned my back on that life."

"You can never turn your back on your past. It will always come back to haunt you." Sportsmaster sneered. "You're weak, little girl. I can see we'll have to do some training."

"I have spent the last year of my life trying to leave my past behind, and I finally did. Now you expect me to just come back? I won't!" Artemis tried to back away, but Sportsmaster grabbed her arm again, his grip painfully tight.

"You will if you want your sister to live." Sportsmaster moved his face so it was inches away from Artemis's. "Don't underestimate me. I will kill her if you don't join me by the end of the day." He released Artemis's arm. His fingers would leave bruises. They were already forming on her skin. "So go ahead. Run back to your little team and your little boyfriend. But if I even sense that you might tell them anything about our little arrangement...Well, let's just say you'll Daddy's only little girl."

"You know they'd help me." Artemis said quietly.

"Why would they? You've already betrayed them by not turning me in right away. Or at least try to fight me. And I doubt lover-boy will be very happy to see you again." Sportsmaster laughed. "You think they're your friends? You don't have friends! You have assets, targets, but never friends. You're incapable of having friends. Just like your father."

"You had mom." Artemis was torn by his words, though. He was spouting the exact words she had always wondered.

"Your mother was different." Sportsmaster waved it off. "Now, meet me here by the end of the night." He handed her a slip of paper with an address on it. "And remember...If I'm willing to hurt family to get to you, imagine what I'm willing to do to your friends if they decide to crash our little family reunion." Artemis turned on her heel and left.

Mt. Justice was the same as it always was. M'gann was in the kitchen making...something, and Connor was trying to help without breaking anything. Kaldur and Raquel were sitting on the couch discussing something or other, and Robin was playing some video game with Wally.

Wally. He turned to look at her, and his emerald eyes were devoid of the spark that was always there.

He was the only difference in the room. There was an almost visible cloud hanging over him as he lost miserably at Halo. Everyone noticed Artemis come in, thanks to the computer's announcement, and Artemis could have sworn that even the robotic voice sounded disapproving. The room went silent as she walked by and started making her way to her room. It was just too much to have her teammates stare at her like she had betrayed them. And maybe she did. Artemis bowed her head to hide the tears that were forming and it seemed like hours before she finally crossed the short distance to the hallway.

Artemis had just walked out of sight when she felt a whoosh of air and then a familiar presence.

"Where were you?" Wally's quiet voice was right behind her.

"Out." She answered curtly.

"We need to talk." Artemis kept her back to Wally so he wouldn't see her eyes. He would be able to read her like a book right now if he could see her eyes.

"We have talked." Artemis sighed. It was breaking her inside to be this close to him. She needed to get to her room and be alone.

"No, we need to really talk." Wally followed her into her room before she could close the door.

"No, we really don't." Artemis emphasized the don't. "Just leave me alone, Wally." Her voice cracked on his name. Artemis suddenly felt dizzy and leaned against the wall. Wally reached out to help, and his hand accidentally brushed the injured part of her arm. She jerked away from him.

"Artemis, what happened to your arm?" Wally's voice was concerned, but Artemis couldn't speak. She was afraid if she did, she would spill the whole story. "Tell me what happened. I still care about you, even though you don't care about me." Artemis was struck by how casually he said the words, like he had accepted it.
She slowly turned so he could see the tears falling from her eyes.

"How can you say that? How can you believe that I don't still care about you?" Artemis wiped her cheeks clean of the tears.

"I didn't." Wally said softly. "I almost did, but then I realized that you would never break up with me."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm Kid Flash, babe." He tried to grin, but it lacked enthusiasm. "Now tell me, what happened?"

"I can't..." Artemis whispered. "You won't understand." Wally placed a hand on the back of her neck and drew her closer.

"Yes I will. We all will." Wally whispered. "You can trust us. We're a family."

"Yeah, a severely dysfunctional family that dates within itself." Artemis said, but her voice held no fight. He was so close to getting the truth. Wally dropped his hand from her neck and gently took her hand. With his other hand, he slowly pushed up the sleeve of her shirt until he reached the near-perfect hand imprint. He sucked in a breath.

"Who. Did. This." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Who do you think?" Artemis said bitterly.

"Sportsmaster?" Wally gently probed the bruise, and Artemis hissed in pain. It was a deep bruise. "Sorry..."

"It's not the worst bruise he's ever given me." Artemis muttered. Wally imagined her as a little girl, with an abusive father...He shook it away.

"Artemis, what's going on?"

"I can't involve you in this. If the League knew..." She shook her head. "No, I have to take care of this myself."

"No, you don't!" Wally's voice raised. "When are you going to realize that this team, we'd do anything for you. You know why?" Artemis shook her head slowly. "Because we know you'd do the same for any one of us. Now you tell me what is going on, Artemis Crock." Artemis considered.

"Fine." She spilled the whole story from the conversation with her father at her house, right down to the very words her father had spoken later to her in the alley. "So now you know." Wally looked shocked.

"So...you broke up with me because you were afraid of what would happen to your sister?" Wally felt the weight lifting from his heart.

"Seriously? That's what you're focusing on?" Artemis laughed humorlessly. "Only you." She threw herself into his waiting arms, and they closed around her in the tightest embrace Artemis had ever received.

"I love you so much." Wally breathed in the scent of her cucumber-melon shampoo. Artemis rested her head in the crook of Wally's neck.

"I love you too." Suddenly she started shaking as she tried to hold in her crying. She'd been crying a lot lately, and she didn't want to anymore. "What am I going to do? I can't tell the League and I can't not go. Cheshire is still my sister. I can't just leave her!"

"We need to tell the team." Wally said. "We will all help you. We'll figure something out, even if it means going rogue." Artemis sighed, unwilling to let go of Wally.

"This will get dangerous."

"I know."

"You will get into trouble if we fail. Probably if we succeed, too."

"I don't care."

"Then let's go tell them, I guess." Artemis let Wally lead her back into the main room where the team was still lounging. They looked up when the couple walked in, hand-in-hand. "You know, we'll need Robin to do something about the security footage."

"Why?" The little ninja popped up out of nowhere. Artemis sighed.

"I need...I need your help. All of you." She looked at their faces.

"Ok." Connor shrugged.

"What can we help you with?" Kaldur asked. Just like that, the team was ready to go with no further explanation.

"It's a long story." Artemis said.

So, be honest. How many of you freaked out during the first bit? It's ok, you can tell me. So, read and review.

Also, reader of the week is lala.