Author's Note: Here's a little chapter showing an alternate take on Jade's meeting with Artemis. Enjoy!

Jade unlocked the hatch to the window and slipped inside, being careful to shut if properly before tiptoeing in the small kitchen. She heard the pitter-patter of feet scraping wood and tensed up. Jade reached into her pocket for a small tranquilizer, in case the animal proved to be aggressive towards intruders. The footsteps – or paw steps, in this case – grew closer and closer before a quick "Yip!" was made. Jade didn't flinch and crept through the kitchen towards the sofa. One week of watching her little sister confirmed a rough outline of what times she would be home, and it was certainly going to be soon. She thought of sending a text and brushed it aside, Jade had doubts that Artemis would want to set her up as a contact.

But this was the whole point of the meeting in the first place; if Artemis still wanted Jade in her life, if she still had a sense of sisterhood between the two, then they could begin healing. Maybe it could start with baby steps, little matters in life.

Like boys.

The door creaked open, Jade cleared her throat loudly to spare her sister the shock of discovering her.

"Who's there?" Artemis' voice asked.

"Just me, sis." Jade said quietly.

Artemis came into view, a backpack bulging with books about to burst strapped behind her.

"Before you say anything, I'm not here to fight." Jade raised her hand as Artemis opened her mouth. "I just wanted to talk…about us and if there's a chance we could work things out."

Artemis dropped her backpack with a loud THUD! and crossed her arms, her eyes glaring accusingly.

"Not sure, sis." Artemis said. "After all, its 'every girl for herself.' Wouldn't want to ruin family rules and all."

"Would you just give me a chance to explain myself?!" Jade barked suddenly. Artemis flinched and crouched into a fighting position. Jade sighed. "I should have never left you with Dad, I never forgave myself for leaving you alone. And our lines of work don't help, either –"

"I'm not in the hero business anymore." Artemis said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Wally and I left a few months after the incident with Tiamat. It…it was kind of painful, with losing good friends. We just wanted to enjoy normal lives for once."

Artemis' voice became quiet at the end. She dropped her head, probably re-living whatever painful memory that had pushed her into an early retirement.

Jade frowned. She heard about that incident through whispers, but there wasn't much that came of it. Her role in that incident was over and done well before those Justice League Wannabes…no, the Team, if she remembered correctly…before they ended it.

"Should I make some tea?" Jade asked awkwardly. Artemis looked up and stared. Jade sighed. "If…you want me to leave, I underst-"

"No, wait." Artemis said. "I'll get some tea, I know where it is."

Just then, a large dog came strutting in and began barking at Jade. Jade hissed at the creature with a smirk, half-wishing she had been wearing her Cheshire outfit. Artemis rolled her eyes and made her way through the kitchen. Jade swore she saw a little smile on her sister's face before her head turned completely away.

XXX

Artemis didn't want to admit it, but she was a little grateful that Jade made an effort to reach out. It felt…peaceful inside. A large knot was still tight in her stomach, but it loosened a little bit. Then the conversation that began was…unexpected, to say the least. Jade asked a few questions about Wally, nothing that suggested she was going to kill him. She actually felt pity for him as opposed to Artemis herself, as if Wally couldn't handle someone trained to be an assassin at a young age. Knowing that Wally would be home shortly, Artemis walked her sister out the door, Brucely panting close by – he had gotten over the initial hostility – and handed her a snack to munch on. Jade frowned at the offered cheesy chips but accepted them nonetheless.

"Should I expect a call from Dad?" Artemis said, already knowing the answer.

"Doubt it. You're as dead as his targets, now. He's just trying to pretend you don't exist." Jade smirked. "By the way…how would you feel about babysitting?"

Artemis' eyes widened. "What?"

Jade smiled and rubbed her stomach. "Just found out last week. Going to have to cut down on hits when the bump comes in."

Artemis smiled. "Sure."

Jade suddenly glared at her. "Don't expect this ending our feud, I just went to all the trouble of finding you just so my kid has a place to stay."

Artemis chuckled. "Whatever you say."

Author's Note: Baby steps have to be made in order for wounds to heal, I've been through that and was pretty bitter (and afraid, as I realized later on) for a few months before reconciliation began. Counseling helped a good deal. Artemis will have a hard time forgiving her sister, but she's giving her a chance. And Jade knows that there are limits, so she doesn't want to make threats or endanger any chance at fixing things with her sister. I found this chapter to be sweet until I realized Jade would never outright admit to saying she loved Artemis to her face. Thus, the comment about needing a babysitter was written in, but Artemis knows what a load of BS that is. Thank you all so much for the reviews and suggestions, I am happy to give these cliches some life and jabs.

Zatanna...yep, I was actually thinking about her behavior in my other YJ fics and she needs a little karma. Thanks for suggesting it, X. As for the comment about Spirtfire, yeah, I'm fine with the pairing since a good deal of development was made in Season One, but the Time Skip turned me off to the series and from what I gathered, there wasn't a lot of development on the relationship aside from Wally and Arty living together in college. Still a bit sweet, but I respect your opinion on it, Guest whom I cannot address properly on account of having no reply system for guest users.

XD Glad I got some frights from that little comment at the end of last chapter, it IS pretty scary in concept alone.

Thanks for reading, again, next update is Friday this week. Please review :)