" So what happens next?" Artemis asked, still admiring the bow in her hand. It was so sleek. Sure, her dad once got her a compound bow that could kill three men at a time, but this bow felt different than anything her dad had ever given her. It felt good.

" You need to meet the team. And they'll probably need some kind of backstory from you." Green Arrow told her.

Artemis looked up at them sharply, " They can't know my real one. I don't want them finding out about my killer lineage." Artemis saw her mom cringe, and she felt bad, she really did. But it wasn't her mom she was ashamed of, it was the other two members of her family.

Of course she knew that they would find out eventually, but she'd prefer to build up some kind of trust first. That way when they find out about her maybe they won't care as much.

" We understand. That is why your cover will be Green Arrow's niece." Batman said, a glimpse of a small appeared on his features.

Green Arrow pumped his fist, "Black Canary is gonna be psyched! You can come to all of our Thanksgivings, she'll finally have someone to pass some of her martial arts moves down to—"

" Green Arrow, she's your niece, not your daughter."

Green Arrow shrugged, "I know, but that doesn't mean I can't take her shooting."

Green Arrow ruffled Artemis's hair. And surprisingly, she didn't hate it as much as she thought she would.

She even had to bite back a smile.

" Wait, I don't need a costume, do I?" Artemis asked uncertainly. She had always thought those things were tacky. Especially in this day and age when the world was practically hell. I mean what was a flashy skirt gonna do against a full-grown werewolf?

Green Arrow laughed and pulled out a box.

" You do have to wear a costume, but I don't think you'll hate it."

Artemis took the box, and cocked an eyebrow at Green Arrow.

" I doubt it."

Artemis walked into her room, trying to hide the creeping smile on her face. Even if she hated the costume, tis day had still been pretty awesome. She was a hero. A hero. Her. HA! Would've thought?

She stepped into her room and smiled at the Cheshire cat poster. For whole it had stared down at her mockingly, it's eyes always laughing as she tried to shield her gaze from it. But now she smiled.

Artemis had a nasty habit of talking to the poster when she felt sad, it reminded her of someone close to her. But those conversations would always turn into Artemis doubting herself, and she didn't need any of that today.

She set the box down on her bed and opened it.

She gazed in awe at the beautiful green outfit. She delicately took it out of the box and set it on the bed.

There were two main parts to the costume: A dark green crop top with a light green arrow on it, a mask attached to the top, and a simple pair of green combat pants.

As she put the costume on, she noticed that it wasn't nearly as itchy as she thought it would be. In fact, the cool material felt nice, almost as if it was a second layer of skin.

She also noticed some extra things in the box. A pair of combat boots, a belt, and an arm band. She put all of these on and turned to look at herself in the mirror.

She looked nothing like herself. As Artemis gazed at her reflection, she didn't recognize the person she was facing. They were strong, confident, and one hell of a badass. They were a protector. No. They were a hero.

There was only one thing missing. She grasped the mask from behind her neck, and pulled it over her eyes. She smiled into the mirror. This was the new her, the hero, the protector. And yeah, she looked pretty damn good.

She walked back into the living room, to the brightest smile she'd ever seen on her mothers face. Green Arrow and Batman didn't look that upset either.

" Let's go meet the team." Green Arrow announced.

Batman and Green Arrow were about to take her outside, but Paula stopped them.

" Can I have a moment alone with my daughter?" Paula asked, not waiting for a response.

She gestured Batman and Green Arrow outside, and turned towards her daughter.

" Artemis, I am so proud of you," Paula croaked, wiping. A few stray tears from her cheek. Artemis knelt down so the was eye-level with her mom, "and don't ever forget that. But remember you will be facing all kind of monsters, some of which are human. Monsters out there can kill anyone in seconds, and the killers are even worse. Just promise me you'll be safe. I don't know what I'd do without you." Paula put her hand on her daughters face, only to feel warm tear tracks.

" I'll be careful, I promise. But will you be okay without me?" Artemis choked out.

Paula smiled coyly at her daughter, " I'll be fine, dear, now go save the world."

And without any further comment, Paula gestured her daughter out the door, and into a whole new life.

Artemis smiled at her mom and gave her a quick hug.

" I love you, mom."

" I love you too, Artemis."

The ride to the cave wasn't as awkward as Artemis had thought. She had to many thoughts swimming around in her head to even focus on anything like that. Also Batman and Green Arrow decided now would be the best time to brief her on the team.

"There are five members: Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian."

"Great," Artemis muttered sarcastically, "I've always wanted to live with 4 teenage boys and an alien. Sounds exciting."

She had always been a loner, caring about what others thought had never really been something she did, but she couldn't help but realize she wanted this team to like her.

They were her new team, after all, better to get along with them than to fight them all the time.

Before she knew it they had parked in front of a dingy alley way. Artemis cocked an eyebrow.

" This is the hideout?" Artemis asked, "I'm not impressed."

Green Arrow smirked, "You're right, maybe you should phone home. Ask for a ride back."

Artemis rolled her eyes and directed her attention to the alley, the dirt caking the walls wasn't anything new, in fact it was nicer than most of the places she usually hung out at.

Still, one thing didn't quite fit in. At the end of the alleyway stood a telephone booth, while paint was chipping and dirt caked the walls, something was off about it.

Artemis strolled towards it and ran a hand down the side of it. Dirt appeared on her fingertips, but as she inspected it she noticed something.

"It's fresh." She muttered. Fresh dirt. Hilarious. Yeah, here in Gotham that was a luxury.

Batman nodded in approval, " Gotham roots. Not bad."

Artemis mock bowed, and gestured to the booth.

"So can I head in?"

"Yep, we'll give you a few minutes to meet the team, then we'll follow."

Artemis nodded absently as she stepped into the machine. She jumped as a voice appeared from nowhere.

A small light scanned her eye, and she had to resist the urge to blink.

" Artemis B7. Approved."

Next thing she knew she was being transported. In a few seconds she was standing in the entrance of a strange living room. It had a training floor in the middle and a few couches sprawled about. She could see a kitchen peaking through a door, but she didn't have a chance to investigate.

In front of her stood five colorfully dressed teens. Now, Artemis knew it was totally unreasonable to judge people before she even knew them, but she could give it a try.

At the front of the pack stood a boy. Dressed in a tight red shirt, black cargo pants, and a seemingly impractical black and yellow cape, this kid seemed pretty cool. Even if he did look like he belonged in grade school.

But, the white mask with black eye sockets marred his face from her view and the way he held his hand hesitantly over his utility belt signaled that this kid had been trained well. He was a little bat in training. This one was Robin.

Next to this kid stood a terrifyingly friendly, green, smiley alien who was levitating off the ground. Her tight white shirt with a red X on it was fine, hell, Artemis could even get behind the cape thing considering this girl could fly, but a skirt? What kind of self respecting hero could wear a preppy blue skirt.

Artemis knew that she'd probably end up liking this girl, but she gave off such a preppy vibe that Artemis wouldn't be surprised if she'd gone out for captain of the cheer team. Yeah, this one had to be Ms Martian. She was the only one perky or green enough to have a name like that.

But hey, Artemis had to respect this girl. Being the only female on the team for this long must've been rough.

Next up was a brooding superman lookalike. For a few seconds Artemis had thought it had been the man of steel himself, but this kid seemed way too emo. But, Artemis could get behind the tight black shirt, man does that boy have muscles.

While Artemis did think the guy was hot, he was definitely into the green girl. The way he stood protectively by her side, holding out an arm to shield Miss M from any of the worlds harm was actually kind of sweet. Romantic and gross, but sweet.

Standing with his arms crossed was the obvious leader of the team. He had a waterproof red shirt, with black spirals trailing down his arms. The Aquaman 'A' stood proudly on his belt, and are those gills on his neck? Yeah. This one is Aqualad.

Last up, the dude casually leaning on the Boy Wonders' shoulder was dressed in a yellow onesie. The technical name was probably something like 'speed resistant polymer, woven with strands of fire proof spandex' but Artemis preferred the onesie more.

Okay, why the hell was this guy looking at her like she was the devil personified? You know what, she didn't want to start a fight on the first day, so she'd just politely ask him when they time came.

Besides, anyone with the Flash symbol on their chest was already slightly intimidating, luckily the munching of chips made his glare slightly less intimidating.

"Welcome!" Miss Martian piped, "My name is M'gann, but you can call me Megan, or Miss M, or Miss Martian. Actually, I have no preference, well actually M'gann is my real name—"

Artemis cut off her rambling, "M'gann it is."

M'gann smiled, "Great! Well, this is Super Boy, but you can call him Connor.

Said boy simply grunted, but Artemis didn't care. In fact she preferred it to M'ganns' over the top welcome committee approach.

The leader stepped towards her, " Greetings, My name is Kaldur'ahm, but Kaldur is fine. Welcome to the team." He stuck out his hand and Artemis took it with a slight smile.

" Yes, welcome!" Robin smirked, "We hope the Cave resort satisfies all of your housing needs. With a full-stocked kitchen, a five star training facility, and not one, not two, but 5 teenagers, I'm sure your stay here will be quite satisfactory."

Artemis chuckled, "You sure you qualify as a teenager?"

" Yep, just stopped using the pacifier last week."

Artemis nodded appraisingly at the Boy Wonder, but seriously how old was he? She was sure it was somewhere between 8 and 16…okay that didn't give her much.

"Rob, what are you doing?!" Kid Flash muttered, " She's Speedy's replacement. That's why he's not coming back, because of her!"

Rob rolled his eyes, but Artemis raised a questionary eyebrow. Who was Speedy? Ah, well, at least she figured out why this guy hated her so much.

"Not the time, Kid Pout, besides we should ask Artemis here a few questions. So, Arty, Where are you from? Why did you decide to join the team? Why the bow and arrow? Why are you really here?"

Artemis gaped as she tried to string a few answers together. Luckily, Green Arrow had perfect timing.

"She's from Star City. She's joining cause she's my niece. The bow and arrow is ,again, cause she's my niece. And the real reason she wants to join the team is because she just wanted to get away from me."

Artemis laughed slightly at her uncles joke. Ha. How funny.

M'gann let out a high pitched chuckle, "Niece! That's incredible! The Martian Manhunter is my uncle! The team now has two nieces! How cool is that?!"

"Two nieces. Both from a greenish League member who wanted to 'do their part'," Kid Flash snapped, " Oh, come on! I can't be the only one who finds this fishy?!"

Robin rolled his eyes, " Kid, Speedy left us to go try and protect his community. It wasn't anything personal, we just had different ideas nohow to protect the world."

Batman looked at his protege with approval. Such a smart kid, but he doesn't have to know what actually happened to Roy yet. He'd just worry. They'd all just worry.

"Kid," Kaldur scolded, "Calm down."

Kid Flash sighed and went back to munching his chips angrily. Artemis smirked at him, causing his glare to increase.

Batmans watch beeped and he looked at the kids, the same expressionless emotion on his mask, "Arrow, we have to go. Now."

"What happened?" Robin asked.

"Nothing that concerns the team. We have to go."

Green Arrow smiled apologetically as him and Batman left the Cave.

"So, Artemis do you want to see your living quarters?" M'gann asked, clasping her hands excitedly, "We're gonna be roommates and I was thinking we could get bunk beds, or maybe two twins—"

"Relax, beautiful," Kid Flash winked, "besides, why would someone as perfect as you want to share a room with Speedy's pale imitation?"

Artemis clenched her fist in imitation,"I'm a lot of things, but a copy isn't one of them."

"Oh I didn't say you were a copy, I said a 'pale imitation' you wish you could be as good an archer as Speedy."

Artemis laughed as she turned towards Kid Flash, "Listen, I'm not looking to start a fight on my first day."

Kid Flash laughed bitterly, "Me neither, but that doesn't mean I won't finish one."

" I didn't do anything."

" Not yet you haven't."

" What are you saying?"

" You seem suspicious, your cover story seems fake, how do we not know you're not a kille—"

In a blink of an eye, Artemis was standing directly in front of Kid Flash, and an arrow was being held against his chest.

" Never. Ever. EVER. Call me one of them, do you understand me?"

Artemis was standing two inches away from the speedster, her arrow was practically pressed against the lightning bolt on his chest, and she now matched the glare he had been giving her ever since she got here.

M'gann moved to separate them, but Kaldur stopped her.

"Let this play out, M'gann. I'm quite curious to how this will end. Besides, it is better to get their frustrations out now then in the midst of battle."

Robin cackled, "20 bucks that it'll end in a similar position, but in one of their bedrooms."

Connor raised a confused eyebrow, M'gann blushed heavily, and Kaldur simply rolled his eyes.

Kid Flash raised an eyebrow at the threat, before a smirk took over his face.

" You shouldn't have done that, Arrow Girl."

In a whoosh, Kid Flash had turned positions and he now had Artemis pinned with the very same arrow. He had turned her so that they were both facing the same way. Her arms were pinned to her sides by one of his, and his other hand held the arrow to her temple.

She could feel the smooth tip of the arrow. Ironic? The archer about to be pierced by an arrow? Ha.

"Super speed, remember, blondie?" Kid Flash asked with a smirk.

Artemis sighed, "You might be fast…"

Artemis ducked out of the hold and swept his legs, bringing them both to the ground. She pinned his feet to the ground with her knees, and held his torso down with her weight. The arrow was now placed in between his eyes.

"…but I'm quicker."

Robin laughed as he pulled out a high tech evidence recorder. The small pen had a recoding device, camera, and a built in laser. It was used to gather information at high stake missions, but today it would be used for blackmail material.

Kid Flash and Artemis might not have realized it, but Artemis was practically laying on top of him.

"Wow," Robin whispered, "Th only people who have had this intense of a training session was Connor and M'gann. And I'm not sure if you can call that 'training'."

M'gann gapped like a fish, "We weren't—I mean we never—We wouldn't."

" Wouldn't?" Connor asked, " M'gann we train all the time, you're actually my favorite training partner."

A small smile appeared on M'gann's face, " Oh, well, um, you're my favorite training partner too, Connor."

The two smiled at each other and Robin had to suppress a groan, "Go make out somewhere else. I wanna watch this fight."

M'gann gasped, but before her or Connor had time to respond Robin had already started talking again.

" Oh no, I think they might actually end up killing each other."

Wally now had Artemis pressed firmly against him, the arrow nearly cutting off her oxygen supply. Artemis grit her teeth and flipped him over her shoulders. She then spun around and had the arrow pointed against his chest like she had in the beginning.

" Artemis, Wally, drop it." Kaldur commanded.

With one final glare at each other, Artemis and Wally backed away from each other. They hadn't been trying to hurt each other…well maybe they'd been trying to hurt each other a bit. But only a little bit.

" So, "Artemis asked, tucking a stray strand of her ponytail behind her ear, "Wally, huh? That's an interesting name."

Kid Flash rolled his eyes, "Oh, please, I'm sure that your name is, like, Mary or something."

" My name is Artemis.''

" Your real name, genius."

Artemis crossed her arms, " It's Artemis."

" Sure, and Robin over there laid an egg last week."

Artemis grit her teeth, "What is wrong with you? My name is Artemis."

" Kid," Robin interrupted, "Her name is Artemis."

Kid Flash raised an eyebrow, "Wait, your parents named you after a goddess? What are they, greek professors?"

Artemis smirked, "Actually they're high profile Killers."

Robin took in a sharp gasp of air, but no one noticed considering how loud Kid Flashes laugh was, What kind of sick joke was that?

"Snarky." Kid Flash scorned.

"Idiot." Artemis replied.

"Newbie."

"Slacker."

"Ponytail."

"Ginger."

"Ah!" M'gann screamed as she fell to the ground. Artemis and Wally immediately shot towards her.

"M'gann!" Connor yelled as he caught her, "What's wrong, what happened?"

" Are you okay, beautiful?" Wally asked. Even though his flirting was excessive, he did genuinely care. It was also never good when M'gann went down, it usually meant something bad was happening. Like, really bad.

M'gann looked up, raw fear in her eyes, "It's a Killer, Psimon."

"Ugh." Artemis muttered, "I know that creep. He's the one with the psionic powers, he's always trying to mess with kids heads, trying to turn them to the 'dark side'."

The whole team stared at her as Artemis casually shrugged.

" I did my research." Yeah, and I once stole all of their personal files from my dads old 'office'.

" Well, uh, nice job Artemis," Kaldur started, "We should head to the bio-ship."

M'gann nodded and flew towards the ship, the rest of the team following in tow. Despite her short stay, and the fact that they were now sprinting through her new home, Artemis thought she would like it here.

"Okay, team, are we ready to go fight some crime!" M'gann cheered, once they had gotten into the air. "The bio-ship rides were always calm," Robin thought, "something about looking at the sky was just so tranquil."

Wally smiled, "With you, babe, I'd travel anywhere."

"Oh no."

" Maybe if I get lucky you'll try to follow her off a cliff." Artemis bit.

" You know what, crop top—"

" Crop top? Coming from the guy wearing a onesie—"

" It is not a onesie! Besides at least I don't have a ponytail!"

` " It's an efficient way to keep my hair back! Besides what are those, goggles?"

" They're an efficient way for me to see clearly when I'm running!"

" Shut up!" Robin yelled, "Both of you need to shut. The hell. up."

"Wow," Wally commented as he rolled his eyes, "Strong language for a 13 year old."

" I'm not 13!" Yeah I'm totally 13, "Now listen up, you two, you're heroes. Your job is to protect the people that cannot protect themselves but instead of focusing on that you guys are two worried about who has the last word.

I know you two just met, and I'm sure that you two will be able to put aside your differences for the sake of the mission, but this is the last time I'm going to say this: Get. A. Room."

Robin chuckled and ducked as Artemis shot an arrow at his head.

"Nice one." Wally nodded towards Artemis, who smiled back.

"Thanks."

" Aw." Robin cooed mockingly, "You're bonding!"

"SHUT UP!"