Artemis rolled out of bed the next morning with a sigh. A little bit of sunlight streamed through the window and caught her eye, causing her to squint and throw her pillow over her head again. As her mind began to function, she remembered the events of the previous evening, dwelling especially on the intruders and the mistrustful atmosphere of the League of Shadows. She felt fearful that the intruders might still be in the building, entering through the same way they came last: just yards away from her own bedroom. But when she remembered Nightwing, she felt calmer and decided to trust him. What ever he was doing would be safer for all of them.

Robe on her shoulders and Nightwing on her heart, she cheerfully left her own room and went to the family's private kitchen. Pouring herself a bowl of cereal, she munched thoughtfully and glanced at the clock. It read 8 a.m.

The door to the little apartment opened and Jade strolled in, tossing a duffel bag onto the couch and opening the refrigerator. "You're up early," she commented while rummaging for food.

"I could say the same for you," Artemis glanced over to see her sister fully dressed in sweats and tank top, her hair swept into a ponytail and baseball cap over it. "I'm always up at this time. You might have noticed before, but you're usually asleep when I get back."

"Get back from what?" Artemis asked, mouth full of food, but instead of answering, Jade carried her bowl of cereal into her room and shut the door behind.

The blonde rolled her eyes and continued swallowing her cereal. Just then another bedroom door opened and her father came out. It looked as though he had already been up for a while, and he hardly glanced at Artemis as he grabbed a mug of coffee and threw a few items into his own duffle bag.

"Good morning, Dad," Artemis hinted.

"Hey," he replied distractedly, and kissed her forehead.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"I have some business in Gotham to attend to, so I'll be out for the day."

Artemis' heart beat with excitement, but she casually poured some more cereal into her bowl. "Who'll hold down the fort while you're gone?"

Lawrence Crock gave her a thoughtful look. "The board'll help oversee things for the day. There shouldn't be any trouble."

She tried to hide her disappointment, but her father caught it. He took a step closer.

"Nightwing's out today."

Her insides became paralyzed all at once, but she tried to seem placid. "I wasn't asking about Nightwing, Dad. I just wanted something to do today, and with you gone and the board handling everything, I'll have no one to talk to."

"As it should be." He had been eying her suspiciously. "Don't get any stupid ideas. I still don't want you talking to anyone." He slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and quit the room.

"Love you too," Artemis muttered. She had hoped she could ask Nightwing to help her find a way to train, but what seemed like a golden opportunity had turned out to be nothing.

"Ugh!" she threw herself onto the couch and thought over and over again about her boring apartment in her boring life with lots of rules that made everything boring. Rules, rules, rules. If it weren't for rules she might actually enjoy life.

Then she sat up. She still had a full day in front of her, and more importantly, no dad meant no rules. Well, at least to a minimum. So she threw off her robe and changed into street clothes, then made a list of all the rebellious things she was going to do today. Oh, man, was she gonna rebel.

List of rebellious things to do today

1. Go to the library

This seemed a little extreme, but it was okay because it was a special library for the Shadows just a few halls away. Still within the building.

2. Eat ice cream for lunch

This was really just put on the list because it sounded rebellious, and she had always wanted to do it.

3. Talk to a stranger

She bit her lip as she thought twice about this one. It was a little risky, but she'd probably never have a chance to do it again.

4.

She couldn't think of anything else rebellious. Jump on her bed? Blast the music in her bedroom? Those were things she saw in the movies, but they were also things she could get away with at any given time. Then she got an idea.

4. Work out at the public training facility

Of course this didn't mean actual public, but the Crocks had a private gym with treadmills and bikes to exercise on, so it was a big deal to work out in public. Then she could watch the others working out, and maybe learn something from them. She also decided that when she went to the library, she would pick up some DVDs on basic martial arts. Then she could practice while her father was out.

It was the perfect plan.

She slipped on some sneakers and exited the Crock's living quarters, making sure to do so quietly so her sister wouldn't know she was gone. The few people that she passed gave her strange glances: she didn't usually wander around the building like this. She felt irritated by their indiscreet stares, and made a mental note to disguise herself next time she went out.

She was relieved once she reached the library, and she immediately looked in the DVD section for instructional martial arts. She didn't have any trouble finding one, and she couldn't help thinking as she left, Lamest trip to the library ever.

She peeked over her shoulder at the various people reading or writing at tables. They looked so consumed in their work, they didn't even notice her. That was good enough for her.

Suddenly she collided with a person carrying a stack of books, which immediately tumbled to floor. Several pairs of eyes looked up from their absorbed reading and stared at the scene.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" A voice asked irritably. Artemis looked up to see that it was one of the girls from the gym she had watched last night. She had ebony hair and blue eyes; she was about the same height as Artemis.

"I'm so sorry, I just wasn't paying attention," Artemis explained, flustered. She helped to pick up some of the books and examined the covers as she did. They were all magic books.

"It's fine, I guess," the other girl replied, but still sounded annoyed. Artemis handed her the books and the girl looked her over. "Are you new here? I've never seen you in the gym."

"Oh, no, I'm Artemis Crock. My dad oversees the Shadows."

"Oh, I get it. You didn't exactly look like the hero type," she raised an eyebrow. "Well, see you around."

Artemis just watched her go. Bitch.

Well, that checked off two of the things on her list. So far this day had been pretty boring, despite all her rebellion. She entered the apartment silently and hid her martial arts dvd. "Jade?" she called. There was no answer. She knocked on her door, then finally opened it. Jade was not in the room, so she assumed she was out.

She put in the DVD and cleared a place in the living room for her to practice. The tutorial opened with some cheesy Japanese music and a little man in martial arts apparatus appeared on the screen. "First we will start with the basics," he began. "Stretch your right hamstring like this." He demonstrated.

30 minutes later, Artemis was bored out of her mind. She had just finished stretching, and they were learning the basic stances of tae kwon do. She looked at the clock. Lunch time!

She almost gleefully turned off the dvd and rushed to the kitchen. Pulling out french silk ice cream and chocolate syrup, she piled her bowl until it couldn't fit any more. She decided she was done with martial arts for the day, and hid the dvd in her bedroom. She doubted she would ever take it out again. She sat on the couch, devouring her ice cream and flipping through the afternoon tv shows. The more she ate, the slower she ate, and finally, she was barely licking the spoon. The ice cream was now liquid and sticky- sweet. She poured the rest out and lay on the couch, stomach bloated.

She thought about her fourth item on the list. But the thought hurt her stomach, so she considered getting up from the couch. Eventually she did, and decided a walk would help to settle her stomach. First she went to her room to prepare a disguise, to avoid receiving any of the questioning stares she had earlier. Besides, depending on how late she was going to be out, her father could come back while she was gone. Nothing a hoodie and a baseball cap couldn't conceal.

Stepping out into the hall once again, she strolled along the many corridors of the Shadows and peered in through the windows of certain rooms. She stopped when she reached the swimming pool.

It was gigantic, with a 50 meter pool for laps, a smaller recreational pool, and a hot tub. She would definitely have to try that out some time. It sounded especially good at the moment, what with her stomach feeling like an added 20 pound weight.

She continued down the hall until she reached the training facility. As she had guessed, many people were already practicing, and she stopped and observed for a little while. There was something for everyone, and Artemis watched in wonder at the complicated maneuvers she never would have guessed were meant for the apparatus. Remembering where she was, she made her way over to the slightly more mild cycle studio.

She set the level of intensity and began her work out, still watching in fascination as the others trained. Her observation was distracted, however, when she noticed someone on the bike at an angle behind her. She peeked behind her and looked at him, who was now staring down at his screen. He was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up, and pumping his legs excruciatingly fast on the bike. Was she imagining it, or had he been watching her?

Artemis was afraid her disguise had attracted more attention than intended. She carefully slipped off the bike and left the studio. Her stomach was starting to hurt, and she wished that she had waited until it had settled before getting on the bike.

She looked longingly one last time at the trainees in the gym, and continued on down the hall. It was quiet, and even though there were no windows in the hall she was passing through, she had the feeling it was dark outside. She wondered if her father would be home soon.

Her own echoing footsteps resounded on the cement beneath her feet and she shuddered at the memory of the previous evening when she had walked down the same hall way as the intruders came from.

Her arm was suddenly grasped, and she was yanked to the side, a hand covering her mouth so that her cry barely made a sound.
She struggled hard, but was barely able to move under her assailant's strong grip. She suddenly froze as she heard the frightening sound of another person coming. A person coming to meet them.

Artemis waited with bated breath, barely able to refrain from squeezing her eyes shut in fear. She was almost completely immobile, and however much she could move didn't help her at all. Her attacker pulled her further into the shadows. The footsteps came closer. Artemis forced herself to open her eyes.

She was shocked and alarmed to see her father passing through the hall. Although he had a scowl on his face and looked over his shoulder once or twice, he didn't come towards where Artemis and the still unseen stranger were concealed. He passed by and exited the corridor.

Artemis was even more surprised when her attacker suddenly released her. She let out the breath she'd been holding and stumbled forward. She whirled around to face the stranger. He was the hooded biker who had been watching her in the cycle studio, but he didn't have his hood on any more.

"N- Nightwing?" she asked warily. It looked like him, but there was something different about him.

He had no mask on.

"Yep," he replied, noticing her astonishment and lowering his eyes agitatedly. "I heard someone coming and assumed it was your dad. I didn't want either of us to get caught, so I thought we should hide.

"'Either of us'?" she repeated.

"Yeah," he gave another sheepish smile. "I was kind of doing an undercover thing today. But I recognized you in the gym and realized my own disguise probably isn't all that convincing."

Artemis was about to say that he had her fooled, but then realized that she was probably pretty easy to fool, having no experience with this in the first place.

"Losing the mask was a nice touch." She couldn't keep a small smile from forming on her lips. She hadn't meant it in more than one way, but now that she could see them, his eyes were strangely alluring.

"So, you want to learn martial arts?" Nightwing smiled, changing the subject.

"Oh, yeah. I was actually going to ask you about that. You see, I have this dvd thing I was gonna try, but then-"

"Come to the gym at 5:30 am tomorrow. You can learn the basics then."

"Woah, okay," Artemis felt suddenly overwhelmed. "Cool."

Nightwing looked as if was going to say more, then changed his mind. "Sorry for jumping out at you again," he straightened up and turned her back out into the hallway. They walked along towards her room.

"It's no big deal," she replied, trying to keep the conversation from slipping into an awkward state. It did anyway.

A few seconds-that-feel-like-hours later, they arrived at the Crock quarters and Artemis opened the door to the little apartment. It suddenly occurred to her that Nightwing had just walked her home, so to speak. She suddenly felt a hesitation in leaving his side.

"Thank you for protecting me from my father's wrath, kind sir," she curtsied with a mischievous smile.

"I am your faithful servant, milady," he bowed low and looked up at her with those enchanting blue eyes.

"Good night," she smiled, looking into them one last time before shutting the door, afraid she might never see them again.