Disclaimer: I know I usually have something witty, but I'm tapped out. DC owns young justice. I just like to torture people.

Okay, I've put the option out there on 'Without Me' so I'm posting it here too. I know I wanted to do both stories at the same time so everyone could stay on the same date, but I thought it over. 'without me' was the original concept and the suspense in that one would be lessened if I went any further in this one for a while. So, question is: can you stand having a hiatus on this story until a certain point in it's brother? I'm pretty far ahead on that one so it will be updated daily for quite some time. And as soon as one near end chapter is posted, I'd get back to posting this one daily. I kinda want a larger lead on this one anyway. Then it'd be just as continuous in updates. I'm pretty sure you'd like the end result at the least. Tell me what you think.

Where's Robin?

Ch. 5 – Thought-filled Sister

Artemis was ready to collapse. For nearly three hours she worked herself hard. She went from destroying punching bags to running treadmills to archery practice, anything to keep her from breaking down and crying again and again. But it didn't matter what exercise she did. In the middle of anything she did, she'd remember what happened then start sobbing.

She couldn't control it. Robin was one person she related to best. He was like a little brother to her, the kind you'd expect to throw rubber snakes on you at random moments for kicks. He never coddled her, lied, or expected too much from her. His smiles were infectious and he could get Wally to cool it within minutes. He broke tensions so easily, diverted people from fights, and best of all, he could manipulate any League member into doing things with them. Since he had no powers and was so friendly, it was easier to open up to him.

And she was certain he knew about her dad but didn't judge her for it.

Deep inside, Artemis knew she could trust him with anything. Several months back she thought if he was just a few years older she'd date him. But he was still just a kid, and frankly even she could see he liked Zatanna.

Zatanna. Oh God. What were they going to tell her?

Artemis stopped, exhausted in the middle of her latest exercise. Beating this wooden practice dummy was the last her hands could really take. Her knuckles were covered with blood and she was certain she wouldn't be holding a pencil, let alone a bow, for a day or so. She was covered head to toe in sweat, and some blood had made it down her arms. Even the tears on her face mixed into the mess she had become. A mess she once hoped she'd never be again.

She thought back to her training with her father. That bastard… He wouldn't let her leave their private gym until she really couldn't move anymore. Blood on her fists wasn't that uncommon for her. The scars there opened up quite frequently. She had cried the whole time, but kept her face hidden. Showing weakness of any sort meant another fist to her gut. He didn't care she missed her mother. He didn't care she wanted her big sister back. He hardly cared at all.

Then she thought of Batman. The controlled rage in his voice when he demanded to know where Robin was. How he shook when he found out. He really was plotting revenge on Wally for a few seconds, then looked away at the sight of his son's best friend in pain. He cared. He cared very much about his Robin.

Her memory drifted to a better time not too long ago. Most of the team was in the common room, going between the TV and the kitchen. She had become bored and wanted to see if anyone was coming in that day to give them training or set them on a mission. She just happened upon seeing Batman and Robin coming in. The boy was joking around with words again, and Batman was shaking his head in annoyed humor.

"It's not a word," the man explained, probably having said it a million times by now.

"But it's FULL of DANGER. What else can it be?" Robin reasoned, smiling as always.

"Dangerous."

"Now it sounds like a chemical." He flashed a grin faster than the eye could see.

Batman gripped his cowl, seemingly anticipating a headache. "No wonder your English teacher keeps calling. Do you argue with him like this every day?"

"Take its out-furiating huh?"

Batman didn't even say a word. He just looked at the boy, almost as if he was being deliberately crazy. He gave a frustrated sigh before roughly running his hand through the boy's hair from the back. Robin laughed impishly, but Artemis could see the affection in his face. Any physical contact from Batman seemed to be appreciated, and this kid did everything to get it.

That kid had everything she wanted, everything she wanted to become. And at the same time, she wanted to protect what he had. His devious tricks weren't malicious, and he supported her when she needed it. Likewise she wanted to support him. Maybe it was her natural instincts as a woman, maybe it was because of the bonds they made in a crisis. But she didn't want this to happen.

She didn't want to see Robin die. She couldn't bear to see Batman break down. She didn't want a family like that be destroyed.

Stupid, stupid Wally! Why did he have to have those souvenirs? Sure a few of them came in handy, but couldn't he leave well enough alone? Intergang played with some seriously dangerous things. Or dangerful as she heard from Rob. His word play became a team joke after a while, and everyone used them to annoy the League. Now they wouldn't have anything new to use on them.

Stupid Wally. She wanted so much to beat him black and blue, but once she saw him crumble like that, she couldn't do it. They were best friends. Of course this would kill the speedster from the inside out. With Robin gone… like this… she doubted Kid Flash would run again. One shot can end two lives. Didn't she learn that before from all those shootings at her old schools? One shot was all it took.

"Artemis?"

Kaldur's voice brought her exhausted form back to the present. Slowly she turned to look behind her to her team's leader. Calm and cool as ever, he didn't lash out earlier when Robin… She shook her head to clear it. Kaldur was only calm for everyone else's sakes. As leader, as the oldest, he had to keep a cool head for everyone else. They needed a rock, and he was it.

Still, could it kill the fishboy to show some grief? He knew Robin longer than she did. How could he stay so composed? Conner broke down, M'gann was trembling, and even the other Leaguers earlier were horrified. Red Tornado being cool headed had a great excuse. He didn't have emotions. Lucky robot. She could only imagine what Red Arrow's reaction would be when he found out. And Kal just soldiered on.

"What?" She didn't mean to have that much hate in her voice, but it just spilled out. She wanted to see him grieve, just a little bit. She needed to see him have more emotion than a fish. Were all Atlantians as cold as him?

Kaldur came to her despite the venom in her voice. There was something in his eye, something telling her what he had to say was important. Gripes. He was becoming a leader more and more every day. "Blue Beetle has verified what the device is."

"Good," she bit back. "Now we know what to put on Robin's tombstone. 'Here lies Robin, killed by Alien Flashlight' just sounds so wrong."

"It's closely related to our zeta-tube technology," he pressed on, ignoring her sarcasm.

Artemis blinked, a small glimmer of hope coming to her. "What?"

"According to what was discovered-" he started, but she would not let him finish.

"Are you saying Robin's alive!" She couldn't help but think of their failsafe training mission. She heard from M'gann afterwards about the small hope they had to everyone in the mission being alive, just somewhere else, when the more experienced team members IDed the tech in it being like their zeta-beams. A small hope was all they had when they made their final stand there. Was it possible the simulation had predicted this in some way? Could Robin really be…

Kaldur nodded. "It is a high possibility. The League is looking into—"

That was all Artemis heard before she sunk to the floor in front of him, her hands covering her mouth to muffle her gasps for air. Tears streamed back down her face in relief. Robin. Alive. 'Please, please! Please let that be the case! Please let him be alive and come back to us!'

She shook uncontrollably as Kaldur knelt down to comfort her. She didn't hear a word he said. All she heard was her own silent prayer to whoever was listening for Robin's sake. She just got a new family. She couldn't stand losing her little brother. He had to come back home. He had to!

A/N: I really feel Artemis is closer to Rob than the others, and one reason she joined them is because she wants what Robin has, or at least protect what he does have so someone can be happy. Yeah, it's fluff, but I like fluff.

So, can you stand a hiatus? it's not a bad point to wait at here really. Wally's recovery and Roy finding out can wait for a bit.