Artemis felt like the day was passing in a haze. A haze that continued from yesterday afternoon to now and kept on going. She and her mother accompanied Dick and Diana to the emergency room, where Bruce Wayne was rushed to surgery. And through it all, Artemis was in silent shock. How could she have not followed them? Why did she think that it was okay to follow Wonder Woman?

Artemis grimaced. She still couldn't make sense of what she saw… What she heard… Would it ever make sense? And even though she was sure that Diana saw her, lurking behind the partition, the heroine hadn't confronted her. Artemis had no idea what she wanted…

Did she want Diana to confront her or not? If she did, then Artemis could get answers—maybe. But if she didn't, Artemis would stay lost. So lost.

She swallowed as she stepped through the zeta beam. Barely hearing the robot announce her arrival. Last night she'd barely been able to sleep. Laying in bed awake, trying and failing to make sense of it all. She'd judged Bruce Wayne so harshly. From the moment she sat under his statue—how he was too young and too alive... Artemis winced. Of course, the latter had to be put to the test…

She wondered if anyone would call Diana out. Or if she was the only one who could—but the question remained, should she? She didn't think she had an answer to that. Because what would she even accuse Wonder Woman of? She was dating a civilian, sure, but nothing that she saw implicated the heroine. Wonder Woman was warning Aresia—a fellow Amazon—to stay away.

"—Arty?"

Artemis blinked, coming back to herself. And it was then that she noticed her surroundings. The Mountain. The Team. She blinked, staring at Kid Flash with a bewildered frown. "Wally?"

"Whoa. You look like you've seen a ghost." He mumbled, and Artemis couldn't find it in herself to be snarky. Not today. She and her mother had left the hospital, not knowing if a civilian was going to live. Watching as her newfound friend cried in tragic silence as his guardian spent hour after hour in surgery.

Watched as a butler, she'd assumed to have minimal affection for his employer, nearly crumble in all but outward appearance. But Artemis knew. She saw. She'd grown up with her father and sister—at least in part. She was big on seeing what people tried to hide. Alfred was better than most. Far better than she expected, even, but she could still see it. The grief. The loss echo in his eyes.

Artemis shook her head, finally, realizing that with each second she stood there unable to move or speak, that Kid Flash would likely keep pressing for answers. "Not a ghost, just a tragedy."

Kid Flash frowned, his head tilting to the side. And for once his normal, smarminess that he always seemed to direct toward her, fell into something more akin to concern. To understanding. And Artemis needed normalcy. Here and now more than ever.

"Artemis."

Artemis looked up to see M'gann in all her cheeriness slide up to her from around the corner. And damn it all, but she wanted someone to treat her normal. Just until she decided to—

"Are you okay?" Kid Flash asked. "We're here for you, you know."

Artemis could only stare between her two friends. "I'm fine."

"You do seem a bit pale."

Artemis shook her head. "I just saw something is all. It shook me up."

"Were you in costume?"

Artemis didn't answer. She didn't want to answer. What did that say about her, that she couldn't do anything out of costume? That she was only a hero if she had on the proper attire? She was so grateful that she managed to be a heroine both in and out of costume when she'd defended Dick from those bullies, but…

"I'm sorry, Artemis. That must've been rough." And Kid Flash again. Since when was he the paragon of sympathy and understanding? Especially when it came to her.

Artemis tried to pass him a deep frown. Tried to imbue as much of her normal snarkiness and frustration as she could, but she had nothing to give it. There was nothing there. She was… Hollow.

Artemis swallowed. "It'll pass. I've seen things happen before that I couldn't stop because I wasn't able to help."

"Yeah, but this was out of uniform." Kid Flash pressed. "I remember my uncle always—"

"Will you cut that out!"

And oh, she shouldn't have raised her voice. Shouldn't have lashed out at Kid Flash because there was that oh, so normal frown she normally received from him. One of suspicion. And then when she turned to M'gann. Silent disapproval.

She didn't hear the others filter into the room. It was only when she looked up that she saw them standing there. Awkwardly. Kaldur standing just in front of the others. Superboy's normal frown was more assessing. Scrutinizing. And Kaldur even gave her a cross between Wally's miffed one and Superboy's petulant scowl.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just a lot, okay?"

Wally nodded slowly. "I get it, Artemis."

What happened to Wally being an ass? Her lip upturned at the thought. Not that she wanted him to be on to her, not ever, but today of all days…

She let her gaze drift over to Kaldur and the others, and then back to M'gann and Wally. They were in uniform. Why?

"Did I miss something?"

Kaldur took another step in her direction. "The League called us in. We came in uniform. Did you not get the call?"

The League? Artemis was about to open her mouth when the zeta turned on and announced another arrival. "01- Superman, arriving."

She spun around, her shock prevalent on her face. Superman? She spied another glance at Superboy—Connor. They'd given him a name. She had to remember it.

Clad in bright blue with that familiar red "S" on his chest, Superman stepped lithely through the beam. But his gaze was stern.

"04- Flash, arriving."

"08- Green Arrow, arriving."

"06- Aquaman, arriving."

"13- Black Canary, arriving."

All these heroes stepped through. One after the other. And she knew she wasn't the only one taking a few shuffles backward to give them all room. And she certainly wasn't alone in ogling them. They were the League. Major players. All coming down.

And she took in their grave faces for what they were and kept her mouth shut.

"Whoa, what is this. Did we miss something?"

God, she wanted to punch Wally sometimes. He could see their faces same as she could. And the ones that weren't wearing masks were positively grim. Even the ones that were, she could see the lines marring the skin around their mouths.

"Perhaps we should talk separately, Wally." And Flash's normally happy voice was downtrodden. And his voice was forced. She could hear it, though. Hear the way his syllables were just a little too thick.

She worked her jaw, but before she could get any more glimpse of either of the speedsters they were gone. The lingering gust of wind was the only indication that they were present in the first place. She worked her gaze back to the other heroes. Catching the way Green Arrow eyed her. But she didn't want to look at him. Not right now. Not hear the judgment in his voice.

Something was wrong. And she had every suspicion that what she'd just witnessed yesterday was the reason why.

"03- Wonder Woman, arriving."

And Artemis couldn't help the way her eyes bulged on that one. Wonder Woman? Shouldn't she be…

Even Superman looked startled. He turned. His stony gaze landing on the star-spangled heroine as she stepped through. But she looked barely composed to say the least.

"You can go, Diana. We've got this."

"No." Wonder Woman's voice was barely above a whisper. But it was so filled with sadness and hatred… For Aresia… That made sense. She wondered if Superman knew. Knew what she did.

"Let's move into the briefing room." Canary said, and before anyone could fight it, she was herding them out of the room. And Artemis watched as Superman turned to Wonder Woman, barely managing to catch the scolding tone by which he said her name before she was completely out of earshot.

Artemis looked back to Dinah. "This is about yesterday, isn't it?" She should've probably cared about the fact that speaking—even whispering as she did—of the event would illuminate everyone on the Team that she wasn't actually from Star City but from Gotham. But she had to know. She had to. After all, Wonder Woman looked murderous.

And Canary even looked grim. Bruce Wayne just gave money to the League right? But maybe it was more than that. If her assumptions were correct, the man had been dating Diana for more than a few weeks. Not if Diana's reaction to his near-death was any indication. And Artemis had to believe that Bruce Wayne made it. Because to think that a civilian died when she'd messed up so badly… To think that her new friend, Dick, had lost a guardian just like that… To think that that statue actually meant something…

She didn't want to think about it.

She didn't like the man. Thought he was a bit of a vapid fool, but that didn't mean she wanted him to die. Especially like that.

Canary's face was far too grim for just the near-death of a simple proprietor of the League. They were friends. Likely through Wonder Woman, but still. They were friends. Did Bruce Wayne know who each member of the League was out of uniform?

Artemis couldn't imagine the League being so stupid with their secret identities. It's not like Wonder Woman and Bruce Wayne were doing anything more than dating. Even if there was love there—which she was almost positive that there was. Maybe the beginning tendrils of it, but love was there…

Canary gave her knowing stare, and that was all the confirmation Artemis needed. This was about Bruce Wayne.

"Take a seat, everyone."

Kaldur frowned, but it was Superboy that spoke up. "Will we be working with the League?"

Canary turned to him. "This is a special mission. To be handled delicately. Superman will explain more when he gets here."

"Superman." Kaldur mumbled. But that was all the acknowledgement he gave to the unusual circumstances. He looked over to her. "Do you know anything?"

Artemis swallowed, refusing to look him in the eye. "No. I don't. Sorry." And she was, but not for the reason they likely thought. She just wanted them to stop staring at her. And for once, she was grateful to Wally because when he wandered in and took his seat on the other side of Kaldur, beside M'gann, he broke the tension in the room. Broke the pressing attention the Team was giving her and shouldered it himself.

But even she had to admit, he looked almost distraught. He was trying to hide it, sure, but Artemis still saw… Flash took his place off to the side. Behind Green Arrow.

"B01- Robin, arriving."

And for some reason, Artemis hadn't expected the Boy Wonder to show face. There was a lot going on in Gotham, and she'd expected Batman to have him held up with the mission they were undoubtedly about to undertake themselves. Working the angle as part of the Dynamic Duo. And as he marched into the room, Artemis could see that he had no desire to be there. But where everyone else was grim and sad even, he was murderous. His expression determined. Not unlike Wonder Woman's.

"Have a seat everyone." Superman said, coming into the room. "We'll be—"

"Yesterday afternoon, I was on a date with Bruce, Dick and some new friends." Artemis tried really hard to maintain her face as Wonder Woman barreled on. Ghosting over her participation. Her presence… She wondered if the heroine knew… But if she did, Wonder Woman didn't show it. She just carried on, unaware that Artemis even so much as flinched at those words.

Superman placed his hand on Diana's shoulder as she teared up at the description of the critical event. "Diana, please. You should be with him."

She couldn't hear what he said, but Robin muttered something petulant under his breath. A mumble. But whatever it was, Superman and Wonder Woman nearly jumped into fighting poise. And that had the entire Team on alert. Even Superboy, who likely caught what Dick said, only reacted when Superman and Wonder Woman did.

"What is it—" Flash's frown was visible through his mask.

"02- Batman, arriving."

And it was nothing like Artemis expected. Certainly not from the major Leaguers sitting in front of her. Canary, Arrow, Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman all reacted the same. Varying degrees of shock flitting over their features, followed by deep, unrepressed anger.

And Artemis couldn't begin to make sense of it. And before she could even try, the black Kevlar clad man lithely stepped through the room's threshold. Sure, his steps weren't as purposeful as they usually were, but nothing about Batman revealed any reason why he'd be on the receiving end of the League's ire and vexation.

Flash was the most open about it, though. And maybe it was because he wore the most face-covering mask out of every Leaguer present, but his face was a mixture of disbelief, relief, and anger…

"Yesterday, Bruce Wayne was shot by an unknown assailant. He was likely a gun for hire." And, oh, she heard it. Batman's voice under the modulator was weak. And as she looked at him… Really looked at him, Artemis could see that his skin wasn't a healthy color either. It was coated in a slick wetness, too. His lips barely moving as the modulator did most of the work. Most of the projecting.

Artemis couldn't the only one seeing this, but as he spoke, the Team only reacted as they usually did. As though the rest of the League wasn't present.

She heard another growl and felt Robin shift and fidget beside her. She glanced his way. And whatever she saw on the League's faces was reflected on Robin's face tenfold. Whatever reservation the League had about showing their emotions, clearly Robin didn't share in it.

Why, though?

But before she could even begin to think up reasonable explanations, Batman's next statement caught her off guard. "He lived." She whispered.

And Batman nodded to her. "Bruce Wayne is alive and is recovering." Why did it sound like there was more weight to that statement than there should've been?

Superman stood up. "We have an assignment for you all. One that needs to be handled with extreme care and extreme delicacy. As Batman just explained, Bruce Wayne was targeted. Likely his connection to the League, maybe to Wonder Woman, but the matter remains that a major donor the League was nearly assassinated. We need protection placed on Wayne and his family while we sort this out."

"So we're protection detail?" Connor mumbled.

"You will protect the man with your life." Wonder Woman snarled.

That was the Amazon, Artemis was familiar with. And none of the heroine's earlier joviality and lightness was prevalent on her features as she stared Connor down.

"Forgive me, Superman. Wonder Woman. But this sounds like we're giving more care to one civilian above all the others that could potentially be targeted. We will do as you say, but is it right for the Team to act as a personal security detail for a civilian, especially one who's dating a League member?"

Wonder Woman wanted to launch up, and she could see the rest of the League hesitating. It was clear on their faces what they thought of Kaldur's comment.

Batman stood.

When had he sat down?

"Bruce Wayne is protected in his residence. Wayne Manor is among some of the most secure places on the planet. And you are right, Kaldur, the Team will not be devoting much more attention to a civilian than they should given the circumstances—"

"Those circumstances—" Superman clenched his fists.

"Are not League business." Batman glared at the Man of Steel before turning back to the Team. "They are not Team business either."

Robin shifted again. And Artemis thought that she could feel heat coming off him in waves with his anger. If M'gann were next to him, she was sure the Martian would combust.

"You don't get to—"

"This is my Team. The League does not get to dispatch them for a vanity project. Bruce Wayne is a civilian. One of the many inhabitants of the planet that is just as deserving—not more—than anyone else of League protection and care."

"Maybe I was wrong then, to date him." There was something there. Something lacing those venomous words of Wonder Woman's. And she didn't why, but she knew they were directed at Batman, but for his part, Batman merely sat stiff and still. Maybe carefully so, but the man didn't budge. Superman, though. Superman was the real indicator that something more was in those words than she knew. Because his eyes widened. The barest of fractions, but Artemis still caught it.

"Now wait—" Flash said, and in a blink he was in front of Wonder Woman.

"No, he's right. We all take risks when dating or interacting with civilians." Green Arrow mumbled, and how he could withstand Wonder Woman's righteous glare was beyond Artemis. Even Dinah gave him the stink eye. "B-but." He raised his hands. "I will also say that with Bruce Wayne giving so much to the League, this makes him more than a simple civilian in danger. The League would be right to devote a bit more care to him than they otherwise would were it anyone else."

Aquaman merely raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"The Team will not be used as personal security detail for Bruce Wayne."

And of all people to cheer for Batman's point… Artemis spied Wally and expected him to sit there about ready to quip about how he didn't want to be dragged down into the simplicity that this mission would surely require. He was all about high-profile cases. The ones that got them to work with the League, not for them. Not guarding a civilian, but Wally was just as stoic as everyone else. Refusing to comment. Refusing to look at Batman or really anyone for that matter.

What was Artemis missing?

She knew she'd be wracking her brain for hours afterward trying to make sense of all this.

"Perhaps a compromise." Green Arrow said, standing under the weight of multiple glares. And even Batman turned his glare on the man. And the full Trinity was paying him mind now. How had the man not been crushed under the weight of it all?

"The Team will monitor Bruce Wayne from a distance. Checking in as he recovers from the worst of it between their normal training and missions. They'll take turns. Each one of them surveilling the place for an hour or so at a time. At least until Bruce Wayne recovers enough to move about without risking himself?"

Wonder Woman and Batman both opened their mouths, but Superman raised his hand and nodded. "An amicable compromise, Green Arrow. It's settled. The Team will makeshift schedules and report to Black Canary on their findings. I'll monitor the progress and it'll be my authority to either increase or decrease the focus of the detail as reports filter through. Dismissed."

Artemis wondered if anyone else saw what she saw. The League was not happy with Superman's capitulation. And she could tell that the Team all had conflicting feelings, too. But for Wally and Robin… They were relieved? Why? The Boy Wonder wasn't stewing beside her nearly as violently as he was.

Artemis looked up as Black Canary and Green Arrow waved her over. The rest of the League filed out. The robotic voice announcing their near-collective departure from the Mountain.

"You'll need to keep an eye on Dick Grayson at school. Try to keep him in your sights as much as possible." Dinah said.

"Rob, hey—"

Artemis watched as Wally darted after the Boy Wonder who left almost as soon as the last robotic announcement resounded through the tower, but then the zeta announced Robin's departure, too, and Wally's call went unanswered.

"Artemis?"

Artemis turned. Frowning. "Sorry. Got distracted."

Both her mentors settled her with a sympathetic gaze. "I know this is rough, but we're hoping that this is a freak occurrence. And that we'll have our culprit before anything more happens."

Green Arrow planted a hand on her arm. "You'll be fine. We have faith in you."

And she just stood there. Watching as they walked away. Unable or unwilling to contradict them. Because Artemis would be good at her assignment. She'd watch Dick Grayson. Ensure that nothing happened to him. She'd redeem herself to… Well, everyone. Including herself.

Artemis needed to.

As she turned, Kaldur simply looked at everyone in the room. "Well, who want's first shift?"

Maybe it was somewhat predictable, but Kid Flash's hand went up before the words fully left Kaldur's mouth. And she supposed that that was fine. She had her own assignment anyways. And she really didn't need to face Bruce Wayne again any time soon.

So she was more than content to take the midnight shift, when she'd be able to coast in and out unseen and unheard. Unnoticed. Able to do her job in peace and quiet. And not having to face the scrutiny of the person who she failed.

A/N: Okay, so we're almost there. We're almost to where I left you off. Hopefully you still like the story and like the new changes. I'd like to think my writing has improved. And that this version has more substance. I definitely feel like I owe it to you all. Especially since I've got more than a few loyal readers returning. Please keep leaving reviews and I'll do my best to keep posting as regularly as I can, which will likely slow down once I reach Chapter 6 or 7, as by that time I'll be just past where I left you all off the first time. It's my good-faith offering to you all.

Until next time.