Hey! Special thanks to Thespeedforce4 for the extra tips. I didn't even think of the fact the Paula wouldn't be able to afford Gotham Academy, but oh well. I'll try to make them longer, but I'm not sure if this should be a Traught fanfic or a Spitfire, so I'll let you magnificent people decide! :D
Dick searched around the school cafeteria, looking for a particular blonde haired girl.
He couldn't quite believe that Mystery Girl could possibly be Artemis. Sure, he hadn't spoken to her much, she was still quite new here, but she didn't seem like the maniac type Cheshire, Sportsmaster and other Shadows were.
We have to leave all options open, he told himself. Artemis wasn't free of suspicion. She had all the links, and the motive. The League of Shadows paid their hitmen well, and if Artemis only lived with her ex-criminal mother, there's no way she could've afforded to go to Gotham Academy.
Dick spotted her sitting in her with Allison, the girl who was assigned to show her around. Realising he couldn't just waltz over to them, he moved to sit next to Barbara A/N: She isn't Batgirl yet, but she knows about Robin, just because it's convenient.
"What are you looking at?" Barbara questioned, trying to follow Dick's gaze. He quickly averted his eyes from Artemis. She was facing them, unfortunately, and she didn't seem to like people staring at her.
Dick grinned at Barbara and took a bite of his apple. "Nothing Babs."
She narrowed her eyes. "Really? Is that about 'you know who'? Have you found out who she is?"
Dick shook his head. He felt bad lying to Barbara, but he couldn't talk about their suspicion of Artemis until they were sure it was her. "Not yet, we ran into her again yesterday, but we still haven't got a glimpse of her face. She's good."
"Better than the Dark Knight?" Barbara teased, earning her a soft elbow in the ribs.
Dick had science after lunch, and, very expediently, Artemis was in his class.
He waited before going into class, knowing that one of the only spare seats left would be next to her. She preferred to sit by herself.
"Hey Artemis," He smiled, opening up his textbook.
"Uh, hi Dick." She replied hesitantly.
As discreetly has he could, Dick looked Artemis over for any similarities to Mystery Girl. Matching long blonde hair, grey eyes, athletic figure.
The teacher impatiently clapped his hands and the class came to silence. "Okay everyone, I have assigned you a project on a chosen element of the periodic table. You'll be working with the person next to you, just to make things a bit easier."
Dick struggled to keep the grin off his face. Perfect, he thought. I could kiss you right now Mr Wright! Then he shuddered at the horrific mental image.
He turned to Artemis and said, "Your house or mine?"
Her response was almost immediate. "Yours."
Dick frowned. Like that wasn't suspicious enough.
(At Dick's house)
Artemis felt weird being in the house of the one of the richest men in the country. The first thing that had ran through her mind when Dick had asked her if she wanted to come to his house to study was, I can't let Dad get his hands on Dick, no way am I letting him into my house.
Taking the ward of Bruce Wayne to the Narrows was like giving honey to a bear. The kid wouldn't last two seconds, and Artemis would get whipped by the Shadows if she tried to protect him.
"Miss Crock," The butler said to her in a posh British accent as he opened the front door. "Master Dick is in his bedroom, follow me."
The butler up a flight of stairs and through several corridors before opening another door.
Dick popped his dark-haired head up and flashed a smile. "Hey Artemis."
"Hi," She smiled slightly, still feeling really awkward.
She walked inside as the butler asked Dick if they would like anything to eat.
"No thanks Alfred."
When the door closed again as Alfred departed, Dick turned to Artemis. "What element do you want to study?"
"Uh," Artemis shifted from foot-to-foot. "I have absolutely no idea."
Dick smiled again and turned back to his desk. "Maybe we should do ununseptium."
"Only because its name is long and it makes you sound smarter." Artemis replied, smiling to.
Dick simply shrugged. "True."
(Time Lapse)
"Can we go now?" Artemis whispered impatiently.
Cheshire rolled her eyes. "When those idiots get the work done."
Black Spider and Hook were inside the jewellery store pulling a simple robbery. Artemis and Cheshire were the backup security in-case the other assassins tripped the alarm.
Artemis started playing with her arrows out of boredom.
Suddenly, a loud whirring noise filled the area.
Within seconds of the alarm, the arrow was flying at the building. It flew into the siren, cutting off the sound immediately.
Cheshire leapt off the building, Artemis at her heels. They landed without a sound, sprinting into the store.
Hook and Black Spider ran to meet them, a huge crystal in Hook's hand. Artemis fired her grappling hook and Black Spider shot a web in the same direction.
Cheshire flung a pressure sensing bomb into the store. Artemis grabbed her sister and flew along the grappling line, Black Spider, holding Hook, in hot pursuit.
As they landed on a rooftop, the bomb went off.
A wave of heat swept through the city blocks as the jewellery store burst into flames. The four assassins watched the mushroom of smoke and ashes, crackling orange flames consuming the building. No surprise to Artemis, Cheshire was grinning beneath her mask.
"Well, that was a waste of expensive jewellery."
The group spun, weapons poised.
Robin was smiling smugly at them. But it wasn't Batman with the Boy Wonder, but a group of teenagers. A black-haired boy with blue eyes wearing a black shirt with a red Superman emblem on it, a dark skinned boy with blonde hair and light green eyes, a Martian girl and a redheaded speedster.
"Oh joy, the Justice League sent their sidekicks." Black Spider sneered.
The Martian leapt at Spider, Superboy at Hook and Aqualad at Cheshire.
Both Robin and Kid Flash came at Artemis, KF spurring on the speed.
Artemis dodged the speedster and fired at Robin. "Hey Boy Wonder. How's your foot healing up?"
"Just fine, thank you," He smirked. "Artemis."
Artemis faltered, but quickly recovered herself. Don't let yourself show emotion. So instead of showing her shock, she smiled at Robin as Kid Flash stopped next to him.
"Well done," She mockingly clapped her hands. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to figure it out."
Robin shrugged. "I'm a detective."
"And yet you needed a tip-off from Chesh." Artemis's smiled broadened when she saw Robin's smug expression disappear to be replaced by a frown.
Her gloating was cut short when Kid Flash sped straight for her. He became a blur of yellow and red, and Artemis jumped out of his path before they collided.
As Artemis moved to avoid the speedster, Robin flung birdarangs at her, all of which she skilfully deflected with her bow.
KF came at her again, this time from behind. Busy repelling birdarangs, Artemis had no time to defend herself and Kid Flash careened into her, sending her flying across the rooftop.
She let out a soft groan as she landed on her back. She saw Robin and Kid Flash exchange a fist-bump before she was back on her feet and firing arrows at the two of them at rapid speeds.
Robin dodged and Kid Flash simply ran out of her range.
The two of them advanced. Knowing they were too close to use her bow, she folded the collapsible bow and used it as a bat instead. She swung at Kid Flash, nailing him in the shoulder, before jumped back from Robin's strike with a back-handspring.
Artemis attacked them in a whirl of kicks, getting them in the head, stomach, legs and the chest. She planted a solid punch to Robin's gut, and he skidded backwards.
Kid Flash grabbed Artemis around the middle and lifted her above his head. With a grunt of effort, he threw her towards the other assassins, probably in the hope she'd knock one of them out.
Artemis repositioned herself and landed on her hands, using them to spring herself back up. Her smirked at KF's awed expression, though she was impressed he was strong enough to throw her.
"You boys put up a good fight," She said when she saw Miss Martian and Superboy had taken down Hook and Black Spider. Cheshire was making her tactical get-away. "But our time's up. Until next time."
She shot her grappling hook again. With an alarmed cry, Kid Flash raced forward to catch her, but she and Cheshire had already zipped off the rooftop.
As they escaped, all she could hear was Robin's outraged cry.
WALLY!
Please R&R, let me now if you think this should be Traught or Spitfire :D