Hey all! I'm seriously enjoying all of the Grimm-bashing reviews! They make my day! So thanks to DianaRulz, Gotham's Princess, doc-trigger, Lavender Wonder and Hersenschim for hating her as much as I do:)

And thanks to everyone else for the awesome feedback. This chapter is the first real appearances of Black Canary, Green Arrow and SHAYERA! (I'm a big fan, so you'll be seeing more of her. Can't say the same for the other two though…)

Special thanks to star's dreams for the insightful and slightly poetic take on Grimm. I enjoyed your opinion very much. Don't worry; Grimm will be getting fairly nasty very soon. COUGHchaptersixCOUGH!

Now, on with the fic!

Disclaimer: As ashamed as I am to say it, Grimm is my only creation.

CHAPTER FOUR: DETERIORATION

Black Canary sighed and stared absentmindedly at the table in front of her. She hardly noticed her boyfriend standing behind her until he sat down next to her, putting two trays on the cafeteria table.

"Stop worrying, Dinah," he comforted. "The medics say he's going to be fine."

The blonde beauty didn't respond, and gave no sign that she had even heard Green Arrow speak.

Arrow sighed to himself. She'd been like this ever since they'd gotten word that Wildcat had been seriously wounded on an away mission. He knew how connected she was to Ted, and how upset she got whenever anything threatened her former mentor. It was no wonder that Arrow had once been jealous of the relationship between the two. But he was more than willing to play the sensitive boyfriend if it might wipe the sad look off of her face.

"Maybe we can go visit him later, when he's feeling better," Arrow made another attempt to cheer up his girlfriend.

Dinah nodded slightly, but didn't move from her position. "I'm sorry, Ollie. I just wish he'd stop taking such dumb risks. He's not as young as he used to be. One of these times he's going to wind up-" She stopped, not wanting to finish her sentence.

Oliver Queen wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. Normally the pair didn't like to get mushy in public, but this was a special circumstance.

'Everything is going to be okay, Dinah," he whispered. She nodded again, but didn't look any happier.

"Hey, guys! What's happening?" Flash asked happily as he set his tray down across from the two lovers, unaware of what he had just interrupted. Arrow groaned quietly, slightly irritated, and removed his arm from around Black Canary's shoulders.

"Man," Flash continued, unaffected. "You guys shoulda seen Bats chewing out the new medic! It was painful. I think he made him cry!"

Arrow coughed pointedly and jerked his head towards his girlfriend, who looked as pitiful as ever.

Flash observed Dinah as if for the first time. "Whoa!" He commented, surprised. "Who died?"

Black Canary made a sound similar to a sob as she pushed herself away from the table and ran towards the door.

"Dinah!" Arrow called, before sighing angrily and turning back towards the Scarlet Speedster who was looking very confused.

"Great going, Wally," Ollie said sarcastically. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to think before shooting your mouth off?"

Without waiting for a reply, the Green Arrow shot up from the table and went off in search of the Black Canary, leaving Flash behind. Arrow knew it wasn't really Flash's fault, but at that point, Wally's feelings were furthest from his mind.

Flash, for his part, couldn't hold back his hurt and bewilderment at his friends' actions. What had he done wrong?

"Nice going, hotshot."

Flash's head jerked up as he found himself face-to-face with Grimm, who was occupying Canary's empty seat, inspecting her nails. He jerked his head around to the rest of the cafeteria, looking to see if any of the others had spotted this girl's appearance. None had.

"I told you, doofus," she commented scathingly. "You're the only one who can see me."

It didn't make sense. Wally had only ever seen her in his room, and then only at night. Now, the dark dame was seated in front of him in the middle of a crowded cafeteria, and no one was the wiser. He had to be losing it!

"You can't do anything right, can you?" Grimm questioned, bringing Flash's mind back to the problem at hand. "Arrow looked pretty mad."

Flash lowered his eyes. "It probably had nothing to do with me," he whispered, not wanting to attract attention to his conversation.

"It had everything to do with you!" Grimm laughed, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Face it, you're just an annoyance to your teammates. All you do is bug them. You're like a child! And they're finally getting sick of babysitting you."

"That's not true!" Flash practically yelled, drawing the eyes and attentions of the other heroes in the crowded room. He could feel his face heating up as Batman raised an observant eyebrow at him.

"Careful, Wally," Grimm patronized. "You wouldn't want them to think you're crazy on top of it all."

Flash pushed away from the table and left the cafeteria, ignoring the concerned looks he was receiving from the rest of the team. Grimm stayed seated alone, looking fairly pleased with herself.

"So…who broke it off?" Shayera Hol cradled her mug of coffee while trying to avoid the overly green eyes that seemed to pierce into her soul.

John hesitated slightly before replying. "I did. But there are no hard feelings between us." He assured her quickly. The two sat facing each other in one of the more secluded recreation rooms.

Shayera closed her eyes and took a breath. Why was he telling her this? He'd already hurt her once; surely she wasn't going to let him try again. But even as she thought these words, she knew that she'd go to the ends of the earth to win John's love again.

The Marine in question coughed uncomfortably. "Listen, Shayera…"

The Thanagarian raised her own hopeful green eyes in anticipation.

"I was wondering," He continued, color rising to her face in a cute blush.

Shayera leaned forward slightly. "Yes, John?"

"Hey, G.L.! Wanna go catch a flick or something on the surface?" Flash interrupted, having spotted his friend at last following a complete search of the Watchtower.

John groaned slightly. "No." he said a bit too firmly. In an effort to apologize he added, "Not right now, Wally. Okay?"

He was about to continue with his previous conversation when Flash moved even closer to the pair.

"Sure, how about you, Wings?" He asked, turning his attention to Shayera, who gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I said not now, Wally!" John yelled, thoroughly upset at his friend's oblivious interruptions. If he had paid closer attention, he might have seen the crushed look that fleeted across the young speedster's features before immediately being replaced by an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll just be going." Flash began backing away from his two friends. His eyes flitted to Grimm, who was now standing between his teammates, arms crossed, with a vindictive smile on her face.

Before John or Shayera could say a word, Flash had turned and raced out of the room.

John sighed before turning back to the redheaded beauty before him. Shayera was now sitting with crossed arms, and fixing the Green Lantern with more than a slight glare.

"What?" He asked innocently. When she didn't respond, the Lantern rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Look, I'll make it up to him okay? I'll take him to one of those Monster Truck Rallies he loves so much."

Shayera still didn't look convinced, but Lantern brushed her worries aside with a wave of his hand.

"He'll be fine," John said with conviction, confident in Wally's ability to bounce back almost instantly. It was time to get back to the matter at hand.

Well, there you have it! This chapter marks the end of the pre-angst stuff. In the next chapter, things start rolling! That means more action, more characters, more Grimm, and more WALLY-ANGST!

For those of you who hate Grimm now, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

Next Chapter: Gotham's favorite vigilante makes an appearance, and Wally takes to the field!

Please REVIEW! They keep me warm at night! lol!

Keep smiling! ;)

rogueandkurt