Summary: Takes place a little after S1 Ep23. Roy has just joined the team

Disclaimer: I don't own DC

Batman and Robin had to skip out on a mission last night involving Sportsmaster and Cheshire. While Dick wasn't there, Wally was, and he had some...pointed things to say about Artemis following the mission failure. Damn. And they were just starting to get along, too. Dick Zeta'd to the cave to find Zatanna and a very pissed-off-looking Artemis talking on the couch. They had grown quite close, so it was no surprise that Arty trusted Zee enough to vent her issues to. Dick decided to let them be for the time being. He really didn't want to be on the receiving end of the archer's anger at the moment. He'd rather leave Zee to deal with that, especially since she was far closer to Artemis than he was. There would be time to talk to Arty later.

Dick made his way to the monitor room to find Roy, who had joined the team right before last night's mission. About time! "Roy!" He turned around to see Dick.

"Hey." The two of them got caught up with what had recently happened. Dick noticed that Roy was far more...reserved than he usually was. Now that I think about it, he's been like this pretty much ever since Cadmus. "So...you finally joined the team, huh?"

"Yeah. But it's not for the reasons you think. There's a mole on this team, like it or not, and I'm going to find them. After that, Ollie already invited me to join the League, so that's where I'll go." Dick felt a pang of sadness when Roy said that.

"B-but don't you wanna stick around? We could bring back the old gang! You, me, Walls, heck, even Kal!" Roy shook his head.

"Sorry, but that was the old me. I've changed, and once I find the mole on your team, I'm gone. I have more serious things to focus on nowadays." Dick frowned but nodded. Roy clearly had no interest in sticking with his old friends, which hurt. He and Wally were Dick's best friends growing up, besides Donna and Barbara, and Dick could remember barely a year ago when they were all thick as thieves. He didn't know what had shifted Roy's priorities and personality so much, but he barely recognized him anymore. It hurt to see how much he changed, and how much more he cared about joining the League than he cared about his supposed best friends. I miss the old Roy. What happened to you?

Dick left Roy in the monitor room to work on...whatever he was working on. He found his way back to the living room, where Arty was sitting alone. Zee musta gone back to her room. Well, guess I could give it a shot. He walked over to and sat beside Artemis.

"What do you want?" Damn. She's REALLY not turbed.

"I, uh, I sorta noticed you weren't really traught over here. What's up?" Arty scoffed.

"Didn't your best friend tell you about my epic screw-up?"

"Well, yeah, but I also reviewed the mission logs and stuff. Nobody's mad at you for messing up."

"Tell that to Wally."

"Yeah...Wally may have a hard time showing it, but he really likes you. I mean, you two were growing pretty tight before...all this happened. But he'll get over it. I think he's just...disappointed or whatever."

"And you aren't?" Should I tell her I know who her family is?

"Uh...no, not really. I mean, we all make mistakes, right?" Artemis let a tiny smile grace her face. Robin was one of her closest friends on the team. Right after Megan and Zatanna, he was easily the best person for her to talk to. Ever since the whole incident with the Reds, they had really gotten to know and respect one another on a deeper level. He was practically her little brother. Way better than my OTHER sibling, anyhow. "I don't really like to focus on the past, or whatever. Besides, I think I get it."

"You do?" Artemis started to panic a bit. Did Batman tell him who my family is? Would he tell anyone else?

"Y-yeah. I mean...Roy. he just joined." Oh. Yeah. "It's probably pretty stressful having to fight for the team's attention or whatever." Artemis frowned a bit. Rob would probably take Roy's side anyways. They know each other better. Just like Wally. "But uh, just between you and me, I'd take you over Roy." Artemis gaped at him when he said that. Wait, WHAT?! "I mean, Roy's always been one of my best friends. Him and Wally, we all grew up together! But, uh, recently, he's been kind of a jerk. He doesn't really seem to...care about any of us anymore. I don't know, he's more focused on finding the mole or joining the League than us. But, uh, you've been great. You got nothin' to prove. To any of us." Artemis smiled and actually hugged him, albeit very awkwardly and not for very long. She wasn't used to showing affection in public like this. But she felt like she needed to at this point.

"Thanks, bird-brain. Seriously." Dick returned a smile and was about to speak when his phone went off. He looked at it to see the Bat-symbol in the corner of the screen, signifying a Batwave alert.

"Robin. Report to the cave for patrol. Now." Dick sighed. Perfect timing.

"Uh, I gotta go. Can't exactly keep Bats waiting." Artemis smirked.

"See ya later, then." Dick returned a smirk before cackling and running into the Zeta tubes. Artemis stood up to go mess around with Zatanna some more, and to tease her more about the Boy Wonder while she was at it, though she was feeling much more traught now than she was before.

Sorry if recent chapters have been smaller or worse quality than usual. I try to get to 2k words each, but it obviously doesn't always work out that way since I don't wanna ramble on forever on something that's relatively clear-cut. I feel like some recent chapters have also been lower quality than I'm used to writing, so I'll do my best to fix that, but what do you all think? Next chapter is a Dick/Megan bonding chapter. After that is episode 24, which is the Haly's Circus episode. Feel free to review and leave comments or suggestions. Next chapter up soon.