Ages: Cameron is 23 and Artemis is 22.

A/N: Loathe as I am to admit it, the Flash trailer for DC actually looks good. Not as good a trailer for a new young justice season though. So instead read snippets of Dinah making our favorite pair do some emotional introspection.

Uncomfortable

Over the Course of Summer, Team Year 7

"And that, to this day, is the real reason why Professor Ojo and I do not get along," Cameron said, concluding his story with a sigh. "It makes the original thing with the vase so mundane."

Seated in the chair across from him, Dinah arched an eyebrow. "That is quite the series of events."

Cameron shrugged, casting a quick glance around the room. This wasn't his first time here, but he couldn't help but notice something new every time he returned. Today he was pretty certain that the miniature waterfall Dinah kept in her office was flowing at a different speed than it normally did.

It sounded different.

Dinah interrupted his wandering thoughts. "It seems that you have a lot of similarly adventurous stories from your years, which makes sense. You certainly have a rich lived experience."

Now it was Cameron's turn to arch an eyebrow. "Says the sitting Justice League member. You could talk stories around me for days."

"Maybe," she answered coolly. "But let's keep the focus on you. I will say, I was pleasantly surprised when Artemis introduced you to me for us to talk in this context. And while we haven't been doing these sessions very long-"

"And they've been great, really," Cameron interjected.

"-I can't help but notice you spend much our sessions deflecting. With ease. I've heard about the admittedly amusing antics of some of your ex-colleagues, your favorite travel destinations, and even why you're persona non grata in the Czech Republic."

"Those aren't deflections," he replied in a defensive tone. "You're supposed to get to know me right? That's information about me."

"Information about things you've done or people you've been around. Not necessarily about you. There's a distinction, even if it sometimes barely noticeable. I noticed, for example, that we haven't spoken about anything related to your future. Or your relationship with your father," she pointed out.

Cameron tried not to react, but the tensing of muscles was almost a reflexive action. He tried to play it off with a boyish smile. "There's not much to talk about,"

"I disagree, but we don't have to talk the subject today if you aren't comfortable with it," Dinah acquiesced. "Why don't we talk about something else. Like, for example, why you've really volunteered for these sessions."

...

"Often, when we feel a lack of control, we tend to focus on the things we feel that we can control," Dinah commented. "Especially when it comes to the actions of those around us. It can lead to conflict when things don't go the way we plan. Like, for example, when Cameron joined the Arctic mission against your wishes."

Artemis frowned from her seat across Dinah. "That wasn't about control. It was about honesty, and safety. And looking at how things went down, can you really tell me I was wrong?"

Dinah leaned forward. "It's not about right or wrong. It's about how you were affected. You took an extended leave from Team duties after that. You also ceased solo Tigress activities and weren't exactly available to most of your peers, in or out of the uniform. I'm not saying it was wrong, or even questionable. But you can't deny that it was noticeable."

"It was more noticeable when Cam took a bomb to the face for Kaldur and our mission," Artemis retorted fiercely. "Someone needed to stick around to keep an eye out on him. Make sure his lung didn't collapse in the middle of the night." Again she added mentally, thinking back to a much younger Cameron coughing up blood on Jade's old bedroom resurfacing.

Whatever emotions flickered across her face, they didn't go unnoticed by Dinah, who pressed forward. "And how did feel during that process? Guilty? Angry?"

"Yes, I was angry." Artemis hissed. "He wasn't supposed to be there. End of story."

"Have you discussed this with Dick?"

Artemis scoffed. "Let's just say we've agreed to disagree and move on, for the sake of our friendship."

"Have you? Moved on?" Dinah inquired. "There is still a lot of emotion behind those words, and it's understandable why. A close one injured in the aftermath of a mission in the arctic. It's not hard to see how that could have struck close to home."

The unspoken message there was loud and clear.

Artemis's silent answer was almost deafening.

...

"Look, I'm not saying it's a bad thing to be a hero. It's just not the only way to do good things. Artemis is smart. Always has been since we were kids. I mean look at what she's doing now!" Cameron said passionately. "Double majoring in two hard subjects even with the nightlife."

"So you would prefer that she retired from the hero life again?" Dinah asked.

"Well, I don't want her to quit unless she's ready. And right now, well, I kind of think she needs it," he admitted. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy if she woke up tomorrow and decided that she was done."

"Because you're worried that she has a lot of potential, and it's not being tapped?" Dinah followed up.

"Yup," he answered.

"Because she's smart," she repeated.

"Mhmm," Cameron nodded in full agreement.

"And you aren't?" Dinah asked, causing Cameron to pause mid-nod.

Feeling as though he had stumbled into an unseen trap, he gave his answer slowly. "That's not what I meant to say."

"Whenever Artemis comes up it's clear how much you hold her in high regard. And how much you care," Dinah emphasized. "Enough to volunteer yourself for these sessions just to try to get her to attend as well."

"I never admitted to that," Cameron replied.

"Your non-denial is an admission in and of itself," Dinah noted. "Now, I suspect this care extends to others, and I hope that one day you feel comfortable enough to share that with me. But it's almost impossible to notice that for all your capacity for warmth, you don't seem to have much for yourself."

Cameron fumbled around for a proper response, on the backfoot from Dinah's change of topic. Finally, he replied with a strained grin: "I guess I'm a cold guy."

"No Cameron," Dinah replied firmly, her tone causing Cameron's gut to churn. "I don't think you are."

...

"So depending on how how things go with my advisor, I could be looking at a winter graduation," Artemis said. After a brief pause, she added: "Wally hated those."

"And how does that make you feel?" Dinah asked.

Artemis smiled sadly. "I went to his grave again for the anniversary. Stopped by to visit his parents. It was...less painful that last time."

Dinah remained quiet, giving the younger woman time to gather her thoughts and continue.

"I know it's been years now, and I feel, well I feel a lot better than before. I've moved on," Artemis said, her voice trailing off to almost a whisper on those last three words. "Wally was an amazing part of my life. I love, loved him. But he's gone. I accept that."

"I'm sensing a but here," Dinah commented.

Artemis let the question hang in the hair, looking for the right words. "Sometimes it feels like I'm forgetting him. Or leaving him behind. Like, one day I'm fine and I convince myself to do something, and the next it's almost like I'm paralyzed."

"Death ends a life, not a relationship," Dinah said softly.

"I know, I know," Artemis answered forcefully. "I know what you're going to say. That this is part of the healing process. That feelings of guilt are normal. That Wally wouldn't want me to feel stuck in the past."

They were all things she'd heard before. They were things she'd told herself more than anyone else had, and yet some days the words still seemed to ring a bit hollower than they should have.

"Knowing and believing something are two different things," Dinah replied knowingly.

Artemis gave a sad smile. "Sometimes, I hate how right you are."

...

"You don't mention your mother much," Dinah remarked.

Cameron shrugged, feigning indifference. "There isn't much to mention. There isn't that much I know about her."

"Really?" Dinah asked, her voice devoid of judgement.

"I mean, I know her name," Cameron replied. "Her birthday. I know what town she grew up in and what high school we went to. I know that she liked snow days. The crazier the snow the better. I know that she had a sweet tooth. But all that," he said with a dimissive wave. "Knowing random facts about someone is not the same as knowing a person.

"Your father doesn't speak about her?"

This time Cameron didn't try to conceal his displeasure at the mention of his father. "He doesn't like to talk about her. I stopped asking a long time ago."

"Do you two still speak?" Dinah asked.

"We have an understanding," Cameron answered bitterly.

An understanding. That was certainly the nicest way to put it.

...

"The nightmares come and go. It's better but, they're not gone," Artemis admitted.

"You've mentioned the subject of your nightmares tend to vary. Is that still the case?" Dinah asked, referencing a conversation in one of their previous sessions.

"Yes. Sometimes it's Wally. Sometimes it's Cam. Every once in a while it'll be my mom, or my sister." She scowled. "Nothing like waking up from watching your sister die to start off the week."

"So, your nightmares tend to revolve around the safety of the people you care about the most in your life."

Artemis took a moment to let that thought marinate. All the years that had passed since her first session with Dinah, and Artemis still felt like she couldn't be sure what direction the woman was going to pivot in their sessions. "I guess you could say that," she answered. "It sounds bad, but I think I preferred it when it was just Wally. At least I knew what to expect."

"Once again, it goes back to control," Dinah noted.

...

Cameron plopped down on the park bench with a dramatic sigh, handing Artemis a waffle cone with mint double chocolate chip. The two were tucked away on a bench in Gotham Central Park, on a day that was just sunny enough to scare away the shadier drug deals away from their corner of the park.

Those were the kind of considerations you factored in with little thought when you grew up in Gotham.

"Rough session with Dinah?" Artemis asked, eyeing Cameron and his weary expression. He'd been donning the same look since they'd met up by the Zeta tubes in Star City.

"Is it supposed to suck this much?" he asked in lieu of an answer.

"Yeah," she answered bluntly, licking at her ice cream. "It's a good kind of suck though. I forgot how much I needed it," she added contemplatively.

"I uh, didn't think it would suck this much," Cameron replied, looking dejectedly at his own ice cream.

"Sorry, I forget that this is your first go with Dinah. It's really an experience," Artemis answered, thinking about her own first counseling session with the older woman and how emotionally wrecked she was. "It hits you like a truck the first time."

"How often have you done sessions with her?"

"A lot," she answered, thinking of the required annual checks that had been implemented for The Team. And the mandatory sessions that they would get assigned after a brutal mission. And the optional sessions she'd seek out every once in a blue moon. "She's always been available when we've needed her. She's even more available when you really don't want her to be."

Cameron shifted uncomfortably. "It just feels like a lot more than I signed up for."

"Do you feel like it's helping?"

"Probably. Maybe. I don't know," he groaned. "I don't think it's bad. I think it's just..." he trailed off, struggling for the right phrasing.

"Uncomfortable," Artemis offered.

"Yeah. That's the word."

Uncomfortable.

A/N: Like he hinted at doing a few chapters ago, Cameron started going to Dinah in exchange for Artemis going. Unlike Artemis, he is not familiar with the buzzsaw of facing your emotions that is counselor! Poor Cameron. He never stood a chance.