Hi! I've decided to go with close friend since AJMC and cambriayoung pointed out that if I went with the sisterly relationship it would be awkward when she found out his identity. Err.. yeah... Hope you like the second chapter. I couldn't PM AJMC since they are a guest, but thanks for the review, I'll make sure to follow your advice! :)

The characters belong to DC Comics, I don't own any of them.

And now... On with the story!

Artemis's P.O.V

It was an uneventful night at the cave, and everyone had lost their usual joy. They were still upset over yesterday, and Wally didn't even try to flirt with M'gann! It was unsettling, to say the least. The only one that didn't seem affected was Superboy, and Kaldur was in Atlantis.

I polished my arrows in silence. If everyone was going to sulk, then there's nothing to stop me from sulking as well.

An hour or so after we arrived at the cave Batman called in Robin for patrolling. And shortly after that Wally went to wherever he lives. I decided it was time for me to leave as well. I went home.

XXXXXXXXX

Mom already had dinner and I wasn't hungry so I bid her goodnight and went upstairs, to my room. I laid down on my bed and thought about today.

I guess Gotham Academy wasn't that bad. And Dick and Bette were nice. I don't know if I can call them my friends yet but it's a start. Friends... Maybe I can make it through this semester in rich-kid school.

With those thoughts I drifted to sleep, and I dreamt of a blonde girl falling down the rabbit hole, Alice...

XXXXXXXXXX

I woke up to the sound of my alarm and put on my uniform. I decided not to glare at my skirt this time, glaring wouldn't make it longer.

Since I woke up on time today I got to eat breakfast, toast and jam. I kissed my mom on the cheek before I went out the door. I caught a bus there like yesterday.

I saw Bette talking to some girls with faces caked with makeup and skirts pulled up high. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Snobs. I turned my head to the left and saw Dick talking to a red-headed girl with blue eyes(1). They weren't as striking as Dick's. I recognized her as the girl from the first day, the one Dick had ran off to. He waved at me when he saw me staring at them.

"Hey Artemis! Here!" I walked towards them. The redhead stared at me calculatingly.

"So uh, Babs, meet-" the girl cut him off.

"Artemis Crock. You're a scholarship student, right? Me too. Barbara Gordon." we shook hands.

"Barbara Gordon? The commisioners' daughter?" I asked. What would she be doing here?

"Yea. As a fellow scholarship student, I welcome you to Gotham Academy." she extended her arms in a fancy gesture. Scholarship... That explains it.

"So, what club are you going to join?" she asked. Yeah... What club was I going to join?

"I... Don't know, actually." I said.

"Well, I'm a mathlete. You could join us, I could introduce you to team captain." she said. For some reason, she smirked at the end. Dick squirmed a little.

"Mathletes? I don't know, I'm not a math person, and I'm not gonna commit social suicide." I felt bad when Dick winced.

I tried to improve the situation. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt to meet the team captain." I said, hurriedly.

"Well... Uh... How can I help you?" Dick said. I blinked.

"I'm the mathletes' team captain..." he trailed off, blushing and fiddling with his fingers. Oh...

"Uh...What kind of..Activities does your club do?" I asked awkwardly.

"It's okay if you're not interested, I get that math isn't everyone's favorite subject." he said.

"Okay, yeah...So, how do you guys know eachother?" I changed the subject. They noticed, but didn't say anything. It was far too awkward and Barbara looked like she was barely holding in her laughter. Dick looked at her accusingly.

"You're cruel, Babs." he said, dramatically draping his arm over his eyes.

"You make it too easy to mess with you, Dickiebird." Barbara replied.

"Bruce Wayne and Dad are friends, I've known Dick since he was eight(2). You could say we're besties, and I'm co-captain of the mathletes. He's really clumsy and gets injured alot, so I fill in for him." she said. Something didn't quite add up. Wasn't he an ex-acrobat? Acrobats weren't clumsy... But then again, he's been in Bruce Wayne's care for 5 years...

"C'mon Babs, I'm not that clumsy..." he whined.

"You fall off the stairs, trip over your own foot, or fall off a tree at least once every month and skip school. That is, when you're not too busy being kidnapped... Face it Dickie, you're clumsy." she said in a matter-of-fact tone, but her facial expression clearly showed her amusement. It seemed even weirder now, though. An acrobat that trips over his own feet... Something was up. Interesting... Gotham Academy might not be that boring after all.

As if on cue, the bell rung. We hurried to class. We all had math... Huh.

XXXXXXXX

After math we parted ways with Barbara, she had different classes than us.

XXXXXXXX

We sat together at lunch. Barbara looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't know if she should. Dick noticed this and tried to start conversation.

"So, Babs, what's bothering you?" He asked her. Barbara's face scrunched up and she looked away. She sighed.

"Dick, I heard some stuff... Did something happen after school?" she asked, finally looking at Dick. She tried to sound indifferent but it was obvious she was concerned.

"What... Kind of stuff? If they said that I have a poster of you in my locker, I removed that last semester." he joked, trying to lift the mood. At this point I could probably cut through the tention with one of my arrows. I had a sinking feeling this was about...

"Andy Mallory. What did he do, Dick? I have to know if what they said is true..." she frowned in concern. So I was right! Take that, boy blunder. I bet he couldn't have that figured out sooner. Dick sighed.

"What did they say, Babs?" I lost my joy at the tone of his voice.

"They said that he kissed you... Did he?" she stopped beating around the bush and addressed it. Dick looked at the floor.

"Dick. Answer me. Did he?" she sounded urgent. Dick didn't answer.

"Oh god, he did, didn't he?" she sounded horrified.

"No, he didn't, he just banged my head against a-" I cut him off. He was lying...

"Yes, he did." I said angrily.

"He's so dead. Just wait till' I get my hands on him-" she started rambling

"No Babs, you can't! You'll get detention! I don't want my friends to get detention because of me!" Dick said.

"Hmph. Fine. But you're going to tell me exactly what happened." she said.

"I don't want to talk about it..." Dick trailed off.

"He banged Dick's head against a locker and then forced himself onto Dick." I said angrily.

"You were there?" Barbara said.

"Yea. I got that bastard off of Dickie." I said. Wait... Did i just call him 'Dickie'? Barbara grinned.

"I officilally welcome you to the 'Protect Dickie Committee'!" she said, still grinning widely. Dick groaned.

"You see, it's usually up to me to make sure bullies don't hurt Dickie... But now you're here as well! Are you in?" she asked me. I thought about it. Dick seemed to resent it...

"Hell yeah I'm in!" This was going to be fun...

We ate our food in mostly silence, save for the occasional chit-chat and bad puns.

XXXXXXXX

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, and Dick left for a family emergency two classes after lunch. I wanted to leave too, Killer Moth was wreaking havoc in downtown Gotham. But again, it would be suspicious for me to appear in Gotham. At least the bastard Andy wouldn't be able to get his hands-and mouth- on Dick.

Gotham Academy had those dramatically dimly lit corridors that looked straight out of a horror movie... Figures. I was walking in silence, this was my first time walking through these corridors alone. I was on edge. On the first day it was with Bette, and yesterday with Dick.

I heard footsteps behind me.

"Hey Barba-" Only, it wasn't Barbara. Andy Mallory in all his non-existent glory was standing there, with a nasty smirk on his face.

"Hey blondie, I see you've met Dickie's friend." he said smoothly. I just wanted to punch that face in.

"What do you want, you bastard?" I asked angrily. It sounded more like a growl. How dare he call Dick 'Dickie'? Only his friends got to call him that.

"Oh, I was just here for an offer. You see, I know some nice hackers generous enough to help me... And I decided I'd get to know more about the person who so rudely pushed me to the ground. And you wont believe what I found! Her entire family, assasins and wanted people... Her mom, paralyzed and served 6 years of jail time! And I thought, what would happen if Dickie found out about this side to his dear 'friend'? What if I told everyone, wouldn't people think you're here to assasinate us? A school full of heirs to wealthy people... A goldmine for assasins! And immediatly after meeting him, you became close to him... Isn't that suspicious?" My eyes widened.

"You wouldn't!" I said. "Why would they believe you?" No, this wasn't happening...

"Would I? And the documents are very real..." He was right and I wouldn't put it past him. Oh god... Why me?

"But I wont tell a single soul on one little condition." He said. He was smirking devilishly, he knew he had me pinned.

"What do you want?" I asked defeatedly.

"I'm glad you asked. Get out of my way with Dickie. Don't intervene. I wont tell you not to tell him because I know you can't, he's a smart person, he'll ask what I'm... Blackmailing you with." The smirk never left his face... Oh how I wanted to introduce said face to my shoe...

"And since I'm feeling generous today, I'll let you keep being his friend. Just don't be a roadblock." he said. "So, do you accept it?" he asked. I couldn't decline, too much was at stake here. Sorry Babs, I'm a traitor to 'Protect Dickie Committee'...

"I accept." I said grudgingly, hating myself for it. I hung my head low.

"Great! It was wonderful speaking with you, Miss Artemis, we'll keep in touch!" He said cheerily. He walked away, a skip in his step. I silently cursed the 'No Killing' rule.

I'm sorry, Dick, but there are things no one should know about me...

Robin's P.O.V

That night when I was going to the cave I thought about how Artemis acted at the cafeteria, the way she told Barbara what Andy did, joining 'Protect Dickie Committee' or whatever... Was she... dare I say... protective.. over me? How did that happen? I couldn't help but feel special. The Grayson Charm spares no one, I snickered at the thought.

I got into the zeta-tube in the abandoned phone booth.

Artemis's P.O.V

Kaldur was still in Atlantis and Wally, thankfully, didn't come to the cave. It was only me, Superboy and M'gann. Or was it Connor now... Somehow it seems weird to call him by anything other than Superboy...

Superboy and M'gann were doing whatever they were doing in the kitchen, while I sat(more like sulked) on the couch. I had another reason to hate that bastard Andy's guts now... But I wish I hadn't. I let out a heavy sigh.

"Well, that was a heavy sigh. What's wrong?" I jumped. Robin was leaning on the back of the couch. I didn't hear the zeta-tube announce his arrival! Was I that lost in thoughts?...

"You can tell me what's wrong, Art." he said with genuine concern. He grinned. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm a good listener." he joked. But that's how Robin was, I thought. Skill and experience with a little seriousness sprinkled with mischief.

"It's... A kid at school." I said. No use hiding anything from him, the guy's a bat. He perked up.

"Name?" he asked, interested. There was no way he knew the kid, but maybe he'd hunt him down or give me blackmail on him to counter what he has on me. I decided to tell him.

"Andy Mallory." He tensed. Interesting... I raised an eyebrow.

"Did it ring any bells?" I asked. How did Robin the Boy Wonder know that douchebag? He looked at me sheepishly.

"Do you remember villains that went by Wrath and Scorn? You know, the guys that helped the rogue gallery?" he asked. Wrath and Scorn... I saw them when I was 11! Dad-no, Sportsmaster was showing me how they fought against Batman and Robin, to study their moves.

"Yes..." I said.

"Him and his older brother, William Mallory, were Wrath and Scorn. They even figured out our secret I.D's!" he said. I was horrified.

"Oh god... Is he blackmailing you too?" I asked.

"Oh, no. While they were being escorted to Arkham, Joker dosed them with an amnesia inducing Joker Gas. It would've killed them, if it weren't for the cure we gave them. Joker must've anticipated that, hence the amnesia. They don't remember our secret I.D's, but they do remember being Wrath and Scorn. Their lawyers got them out of Arkham a few months later and them being Wrath and Scorn was never revealed to the public." he said darkly. Wow, so the supervillain vibe wasn't just because he was an asshole...

"So I take it he's blackmailing you?" he said in pure seriousness.

"How did you-" I started.

"You said 'Is he blackmailing you too?', so what is he using against you?" Attention to detail...check. He already knows my family relations, so I can tell him...

"He's threatening to reveal my family relations to everyone at school. Especially to my friends..." I said. He looked shocked before a dark expression crossed his face.

"That's low, even for him..." he said. Then,he grinned. I have no idea who grins more, Robin or Dick... "So tell me about your friends, I might know them." He said.

"There's Bette Kane, Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon... I guess I can consider them friends." I said. He grinned like an idiot.

"I know Grayson and Gordon." He said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I met him at one of Wayne's galas, one of our informants tipped us on an assasination attempt." He said. "And one time Barbara and I kept Black Mask in the police building long enough for Bats to defuse a bomb(3). She would make a good superhero." He continued.

"Oh... Cool." I said. Of course Robin knew Barbara, she was the commisioners' daughter for crying out loud! And I should've expected him to know Dick as well. He became serious again. The way he was switching between emotions was giving me whiplash.

"And about your situation..." he grinned like a maniac. "I think I can help."

(1)I prefer Barbara with green eyes, but she has blue eyes in YJ so I decided to go with that.

(2)I know in YJ Wonder Woman says that Dick became Robin at age 9, but my headcannon is that Bats adopted him at age 8 and he trained for a while as he says in the comic,"We worked together.We trained together." and then there's the time needed for people to acknowledge Robin's existence so yeah...

(3) Reference to The Batman episode 'The Breakout'. (Season 4 episode 6) PS:She's not Batgirl in my cannon

Whew. And there's the second chapter. I know I make a lot of references to The Batman but hey, I love that show and it's take on the characters. I especially like Robin, Batgirl, Poison Ivy and The Joker from that show. Oh, and let's not forget Scorn... If you have any suggestions for chapter 3, please don't hesitate to tell me! Well, I hope you guys liked it! :3