Ages: Cameron is 24 and Artemis is 22.

A/N: I've had this specific duo doing some version of this chapter in my head for maybe two years now. Finally got around to actually writing it!

The Good Doctor

Early Fall, Team Year 7

The Power of Truth Will Set Your Soul Free - Dr. Shelden

Cameron couldn't stand the quote. It wasn't just the cheesy nature of the quote, or the slight aggravation that came with each single world being capitalized. It wasn't even the level of narcissism required to have one of your own quotes in your office.

No, it was the fact that the quote was hung on the wall in huge metallic gold letters that kept reflecting the sun at just the right angle to blind him. It was the fact the sheer gaudiness didn't even match the gaudiness of the rest of the office, which had apparently been put together by the random brain vomit of a rookie interior designer.

The room was oversized, with large windows overlooking the bustling city of Metropolis alongside three of the four walls. A large mahogany table loomed further towards the back of the gargantuan office, with a laptop and scattered notepads littering the otherwise empty desk. Two book-shelfs on opposite sides of the office were littered with shiny placards and pictures of the good doctor with various celebrities at black-tie events.

It looked less like a therapist office than it did the corner office of a rising LexCorp executive.

The scene was so ill-fitting that it was almost too distracting for Cameron. Almost.

"I think it all stems from his refusal to be assertive in the bedroom," he whined with an exaggerated sigh, leaning back into the sofa he was sitting in. From his spot, it felt like the glare from the golden quote was all but blinding.

Across from him sat the aforementioned Dr. Sheldon. The dark colors of his cardigan and slacks combined with his trimmed goatee and sleek glasses to give a comforting look that didn't quite square with the six figure gold watch on his wrist.

"Say more," Dr. Shelden pushed, looking attentively at his patient. Again, the humble concerned doctor approach didn't mesh well when the walls of his office were also adorned with random internet generated power-quotes.

"The only limit to your success is the limit of your self-confidence."

"Will is what separates successes from failures."

"The key to prosperity is the utility of the people around you."

Cameron had to resist the urge not to roll his eyes each time his eyes caught one of the quotes in their desperate search to avoid being blinded by the gold shine of the other quote. He wasn't sure he could come up with a worse office design for a therapist if he tried. It certainly failed to live up to the atmosphere that Dinah set for their sessions.

But there would be time to complain about that latter. Right now he had a partner to complain about.

He sighed dramatically. "I'm just saying, he's always this big, macho, confident guy. Everyone else loves it, and it's part of his whole public personality. But he's not like that when it's us time. He's all silent and stoic. And I mean, don't get me wrong, it can be cute. I don't mind taking the reigns, so to speak," Cameron said with a wiggle of his eyes. "But I think it messes with his confidence."

"And what do you think of that Clark?" Dr. Shelden said, now turning his gaze to his other patient, who had been sitting next to Cameron with growing impatience.

"I disagree," came Conner's answer, playing the role of 'Clark' through clenched teeth. Dressed in ripped black jeans and a leather biker jacket, he contrasted starkly with Cameron's substitute teacher outfit consisting of a buttoned up sweater vest, slacks, and prescription eye glasses.

"You see Dr. Shelden?" Cameron said, leaning forward to pat Conner's hand gently. "See how he clams up? It's just so hard to get him to open up and be raw about his feelings."

"I'm not clamming up. There's nothing to talk about," Conner answered tersely.

"He's afraid of opening himself up. I'm worried that if this never changes, it'll spiral into something we can't recover from," Cameron said earnestly, now putting both of his hands over Conner's and squeezing like any other conserved lover, desperate to get through to their emotionally detached partner.

It took a considerable amount of willpower for Conner not to squeeze back with even a little super-strength.

"Now James, we have to give Clark space to process his emotions," Dr. Shelden admonished. "This is meant to be a safe space for the two of you talk things through together."

In response Cameron pulled his hand back, crossing his arms and leaning back into the couch in feigned hurt. "I'm just trying to help."

"Of course you are, but this is a partnership. Clark, is it possible that some of James concern here is valid? That you should open up more, and expose your vulnerabilities," the doctor continued in a condescending tone that he likely thought was concerning.

"I'm vulnerable all the time," Conner replied, almost spitting out the words.

"No he is not!" Cameron replied indignantly, putting a hand over his heart. "I feel like I am always trying to get him to open up!"

"And I do," Conner replied lamely. He said a silent thanks that M'gann was nowhere in the vicinity to add to this conversation and glanced past Dr. Shelden towards the table where his laptop was.

He could still barely make out the USB stick he'd discreetly plugged in when they'd made their entry, Cameron providing a loud distraction. That had been twenty minutes ago, and with each ticking second he was wishing he'd paid more attention to Oracle's instructions about download times and encryption security.

Or that his x-ray vision let him see into the inner workings of technology.

"Okay," Dr. Shelden said with a clap of his hands. "Time to practice what we preach. I want you to look into your partner's eyes and tell them you love them. A simple act of affirming your feelings for each other, because after all, that's why you're here, isn't it?"

Cameron gasped dramatically and shook his head in refusal. "Nope, absolutely not. Clark can't be affectionate in public. He get's too embarrassed. I can't possibly make him. It won't even feel good," he finished with a dramatic flourish.

"Well James, I have to wonder if this hesitation is less about Clark and more about you. Do I sense some concern about being rejected?"

"Absolutely not!" Cameron replied scandalously. "I know Clark loves me."

"It doesn't sound like you're very convinced," Dr. Shelden replied, eyes glancing towards Conner. "Clark, this is an opportunity for you to reassure your partner."

"He just said he already knows," Conner replied, voice deadpan.

"But it would be nice to hear it!" Cameron burst out, throwing his arms out in frustration.

Conner closed his eyes in genuine annoyance, but that only served to play up the appearance of a couple in disarray. At this point, he was fairly certain Cameron was dragging this out for some sick form of entertainment. Or maybe vengeance for all the bruises he'd left on the cyrokinetic over the years. "I just said that. If you just listened to me-"

"Maybe I'd listen better if you were more honest about this Megan girl," Cameron shot back, cutting him off.

Conner opened his eyes to give Cameron a warning look, his next words sounding much more aggressive. "Megan has nothing to do with this."

"Megan always has something to do with it," Cameron replied, and though his words were harsh Conner could see the laughter in his eyes. "It's always Megan this, Megan that. We had an argument about her on the way in here, which is why I forgot my wallet! Not that you would know!"

"Who is Megan?" Dr. Shelden asked, clearly confused.

"Nobody," Conner answered quickly.

"Sure gets brought up a lot for a nobody," Cameron replied.

"Because you keep bringing her up!" Conner said, lashing back.

"And there it is!" Cameron replied, pointing at Conner and really, Conner thought, he is so milking this. "There's the real Clark. Shows up for Megan, but not for me."

"Not for you? I showed up here didn't I?" Conner replied, gesturing to the room they were in.

"Okay, I think we need to go back a few steps," Dr. Shelden said, trying to bring the temperature in the room down.

"No, we don't need to go back at all," Conner replied. Now he was wishing that M'gann was here because at least she could use the psychic link to tell them when they could make an extraction.

"Oh, I can back up aallll the way," Cameron countered, and Conner didn't even try to stifle the groan from his mouth.

"This is clearly a sore point and we've got another thirty-five minutes," Dr. Shelden replied, checking his glitzy watch for confirmation. "Let's start from the top."

…

Zatanna opened the door to their nondescript "plumbing" van with an enormous grin on her face. "Gentlemen, a performance for the ages!"

"Thank you, thank you," Cameron said with a dramatic flourish of his hand as Zatanna moved aside for the two men to enter.

"It was completely unnecessary," Conner grumbled, still peeved by the entire ordeal. "Why the hell did we have to be there for the full hour?"

"You didn't," Zatanna said. "Oracle told us the download would be good in 15 minutes or less."

"Got it in seven minutes and thirty seven seconds actually," Artemis said from further back in the van, where she had her laptop. "We pinged Cameron's phone as part of the signal. He would have gotten the vibration."

"I knew it," Conner said viciously, swiveling back to glare at Cameron, who was settling down next to Artemis with a look of pure innocence on his face.

The cryokinetic just shrugged. "You needed the practice. You're a horrible undercover operative, though you really livened up there once I started mentioning that 'Megan' character. Great turnaround!" he commented enthusiastically.

"My undercover work is just fine," Conner replied.

"Yeah, no it isn't. Hasn't really evolved in the last seven years. Plus, I was curious to see how the good doctor would roll with the punches, but I'm kind of disappointed. No original content. I'm kind of disappointed."

"Understatement of the year," Artemis concurred, considering whether or not to share some of the audio recordings with Dinah later. It wasn't very often she got the chance to rile the woman up, and

"You had some pretty crazy transitions in there," Zatanna pointed out. "When you mentioned Zeichu, I was very surprised that Conner even knew what that was."

"Zeichu is a brutal, sadistic torture method originating from medieval Europe with a modern interpretation that is occasionally used as a fringe method of sexual experimentation. Some theorize that it originally has ties to dark magic. I learned about it from my Cadmus pod training," Conner commented robotically.

"Which begs the question, where did you learn about it?" Zatanna asked, glancing at Cameron.

"That's not really important, is it?" Cameron deflected casually. "The thing is we got the information that we needed."

"And I have a recording of the entire conversation saved to my phone," Artemis interjected with glee. "Oracle is amazing."

"Don't forget it," Oracle came in over the comms. "And pay better attention to the debrief next time, Conner."

"How long before you can sort through the data?" Zatanna asked.

"Already done," Oracle answered with an offended tone. "The good doctor's been advertising himself as a metahuman friendly therapist, and is then turning around and selling client information on the black market. We can backtrack his sales and nab some big fish in the process."

"How long will that take?" Cameron asked.

Zatanna chuckled. "You're still new to Oracle."

Something akin to a mechanized laughter came through the speaker of Artemis's laptop. "It's already done. Sending locations to the Watchtower. Strike teams are going to be enroute within thirty minutes. Sounds like even Superman and Wonder Woman are going to be on board."

"Ouch," Cameron replied, a small part of him empathizing with the pain of having a high ranking Justice Leaguer interrupting your criminal enterprise.

"And the good doctor?" Conner asked.

"He'll be in jail by tonight after the local DA get's a pretty big anonymous tip," Oracle replied. "Not bad team. Thanks for the assist Icicle."

"Don't mention it," he answered. "Seriously."

"Whatever you say, Zeichu," came the robotic reply.

A/N: Cameron does not explain how he knows the term, but does delight in telling M'gann all about the therapy session the very next time he sees her, much to Conner's annoyance. Zeichu is just something that I made up so don't expect to find anything if you google it.

The *final* chapter count will be 72, not 70, with all the remaining chapters drafted and in need of polishing. Thanks for reading!