A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've had a bit of writer's block, and my supposed sinus infection is still hovering around making me miserable off and on, which has made it hard to want to sit down and focus on writing for this story. If it's not gone soon it's off to the ENT. I've also been suffering from bouts of acute insomnia (we're talking not falling asleep for over 72 hrs) which makes me too unfocused to do much of anything (it's frustrating b/c I can't sleep, but I'm too tired mentally to get up and do something productive so I end up lying there all night bored). So again, my apologies.

Anyway, I assume the team has mandatory practices at the same time on certain days, so for the sake of this story I picked Tues evenings, Thurs evenings (5:00 would be about an hour and a half after school, it'd only be 4:00 in Central City, but with Wally's super speed I figure he can zip over as soon as school lets out around 3:30 (at least that's what time it was on the clock of Keystone High when he came flying out the doors at the beginning of the ep Infiltrators), making a half hour more than enough time for him to get to Mt. Justice, especially with the zeta tubes), and Sat afternoons. Just wanted to point that out in case some of the readers noticed that I keep using the same days of the week. It's not laziness, I promise lol

Disclaimer: "I don't own Young Justice. DC Comics, Warner Bros., and Cartoon Network have the rights to it. I'm just having some fun :)"

Italics mean thoughts

"Italics within quotes" mean telepathy

A half truth is a whole lie . . .

Tangled Web

Chapter 5: The Boy Behind the Mask

Gotham Academy

September 19, 12:07 EDT

He'd been out-ninjaed.

Eyes wide, Dick stared at Artemis, shocked by her accusation and the fact that he'd been caught spying on her. He was supposed to be the best on the team! He was the one with the most training, the most experience . . . or was he? Dick wasn't so sure anymore. He knew the day Batman and Green Arrow introduced the blonde archer to the rest of the team that something wasn't quite kosher. When Green Arrow said she was his niece, Robin deliberately said: "Another niece?" in a doubtful tone to let Batman know he wasn't buying everything they were saying hook, line, and sinker like the others might. After all, what were the odds two JL members had worthy nieces? But, because he trusted his mentor with every fiber of his being, he'd let it go. Now he knew he'd been right to be doubtful. Clearly there was more to Artemis then the team had been led to believe. Not only had she not been Green Arrow's sidekick for very long but, niece or not, she never would have picked up the skills she'd just displayed working with the hero of Star City. To do "the ninja thing" – as Wally liked to call it – better than him meant she'd had some serious training. The real question was: by whom?

Robin still trusted Batman and Green Arrow's decision to place her in the group, but he definitely wasn't happy about being out of the loop so-to-speak. If he hadn't been, he wouldn't have severely underestimated Artemis, and he might not have gotten caught keeping an eye on her as Batman had ordered. He'd have to talk to his partner about that after school.

Artemis's look of surprise was quickly turning into one of anger.

She figured the Justice League had people keeping an eye on her at Gotham Academy, but she hadn't expected the spy to be her own teammate! She had no idea Robin was even a student at the same school as her. It would have been a piece of information worth having. Her transition from Gotham North to Gotham Academy had not been a smooth one. Even though she hadn't interacted much with Robin since she joined the black ops team (oddly enough, the majority of her interactions had been with Wally, of all people), she liked to think she could consider him a friend all the same.

She could have used a friend.

"Start talking," she ordered, her grip slackening on his blazer only slightly.

There was nothing he could say about his identity; that was clearly blown. But he could still salvage the reason behind his watchful eye.

"I'm sorry, Artemis. I know you've been having a hard time at school, but you know Batman's rule about my civilian identity being a secret. I was afraid if I approached you outright you might figure out who I was by my voice or personality. I didn't know what else to do so . . . I thought I'd at least keep an eye on you from the background," he explained, hoping his answer sounded plausible to her. It wasn't like he wasn't genuinely concerned about her wellbeing.

She didn't doubt Robin cared about the tough time she'd been having at the Academy, but she didn't believe that was really why he'd been spying on her. His statement was a half truth, and half truths might as well be whole lies. But, who was she to judge? Of all the members on their team, she was harboring the most secrets, telling the most lies. If she was going to have beef with anyone it should be the Dark Knight, not the Boy Wonder. After all, he would have been the one who ordered Robin to keep an eye on her while neglecting to tell her. She'd be having a talk with Batman about this. Two could play this game.

When Artemis didn't respond, Robin continued, "So . . . are we okay?"

The blonde finally released her hold on the younger boy. "Yeah, I guess." She swept her eyes over him then raised an eyebrow as she said, "But, the sweater vest? Seriously?"

Robin glanced down at the grey sweater vest made of wool that lay beneath his crisp navy blue blazer.

"What? I think it makes me look refined," he responded with a hearty chuckle.

Dick Grayson's laughter was just as infectious as Robin's, and Artemis found herself quickly joining in.

x x x

Mount Justice

September 20, 18:00 EDT

With after school practice over for the day, Artemis made her way to the briefing room where Batman would be waiting to meet with her. She had a bone to pick with him. When she reached her destination, she securely shut the door behind her. Then she turned her glare on the hero of Gotham, which didn't seem to faze him in the least.

"You have some explaining to do," she began. "I don't appreciate you sending your little bird to spy on me at school. We're on the same side. I don't need a babysitter, least of all one two years younger than me."

When her words didn't elicit a reaction, Artemis figured Dick already told his mentor what happened on Monday. Batman wasn't surprised Artemis had discovered Dick was spying on her. With the training she'd received from Sportsmaster the majority of her life, he figured it was only a matter of time before she caught the boy. He was good, but he didn't really stand a chance against the archer when it came down to it. She simply had way more training, not that Dick knew that.

"I'm proud of how long he lasted," Batman said. "Trying to spy on someone of your caliber without getting caught was good training for him. But, I didn't have him watching you. I had him watching out for trouble that might be caused because of you."

Artemis didn't expect that. "What do you mean?"

"I've been concerned about what the Shadows might do. The lack of useful information you feed them is bound to make their patience wear thin. Robin's objective was to watch you for signs of trouble, although I never made it clear to him why. The point of his spying was so that if the Shadows tried anything while you were at school, Robin would be there to back you up. Clearly my precautionary measure was justified considering the events at Happy Harbor last Saturday."

"You know with my ability I don't really need backup," she pointed out.

"The backup wasn't for you. It was for the safety of the civilians who might be put in harm's way, like the children Cheshire used in the funhouse."

His logic was sound, but Artemis was still angry he hadn't bothered telling her Robin was going to be on the lookout.

"I understand that, but there's no reason you couldn't tell me you were going to have Robin watching me. I should have been in on this. If we're going to work together, then you need to tell me these kinds of things, Bruce."

For the first time she got a reaction out of her superior. The eyes behind his cowl narrowed dangerously, and his already tense form was so ridged he looked as if he'd been stricken with rigor mortis.

"What? You didn't think I'd figure your identity out if I found out Robin's? Give me some credit. I figured from the day I started working with the other junior heroes that the reason you insist Dick keeps his civilian identity a secret from us is because it's strongly linked to yours. Bruce Wayne takes in the orphan Dick Grayson, the boy who moonlights as Robin, and by chance he not only has a similar build to Batman, but he's got enough money and access to technology for all the advanced gizmos and gadgets the dynamic duo uses. Even someone without my training could connect those dots eventually." At the threatening look she was receiving, Artemis held up her hands in a calming manner. "Relax, I'd never blow your cover, or Robin's for that matter. I'm just saying I'm putting my entire existence on the line to help the Justice League; the least you could do is keep me well informed. I'm in a different league than the others on this team, so you'd better treat me like it."

Her peace said, the blonde swiftly exited the room, Batman's hidden eyes trailing after her. Her attitude aside, she really was a skillful individual. She'd make a fine addition to the Justice League in the future, if she could manage to come out of all this in one piece.

x x x

Mount Justice

September 24, 13:05 EDT

Wally didn't know what was going on, but he was not happy about it.

He watched bitterly as Robin and Artemis walked into the training room together for the mandatory Saturday training session. They were laughing and gently pushing each other playfully, not paying attention to anyone else in the room. They'd been acting like that all week.

Not only did he seem to be losing his best friend to his frenemy of all people, but the attention he'd found himself recently desiring from Artemis was being directed at Robin instead. He didn't know what to make of it. Since Artemis joined the group, try as he might, he couldn't once recall the two participating in a conversation together. In fact, if he really thought about it, Wally realized that, out of all the members on the team, he'd interacted the most with Artemis. True most of the time they were slinging insults, but it still counted. They'd hardly talked since the team dinner last Saturday; Artemis seemed to constantly be preoccupied with Robin, something Wally was only too aware of. He was dying to know what had suddenly changed between the pair to make them so close. The redhead watched with narrowed eyes as Artemis swatted at Robin for something he'd said, a bright smile on her face, her dark eyes shining behind her green mask. Wallywanted that smile directed at him, not Robin. In the back of his mind, the speedster couldn't help wondering if Artemis would actually go for the Boy Wonder. He was two years younger than her at a time in their lives when two years was a big difference. But he was smart and charismatic and pretty well built for a kid of only thirteen . . . Never mind his status as partner to the world renowned Batman. Would those factors outweigh the age difference?

Wally really hoped not.

Black Canary entered the room and called everyone's attention, breaking Wally's train of thought.

"Today's lesson is going to be a little different. We're going to play tag." She let that sink in for a second before adding, "Wally, you're 'it'."

"What? Why do I have to be it?" he complained.

"You get to use your super speed," she revealed.

"I'm it!" Wally announced, a wide smile on his face. Catch the others with his super speed? Piece of cake!

Black Canary walked over to the control panel and began typing as she said, "The rest of you are to dodge Wally at all costs. I don't care how you do it, be creative. If you manage to tag someone, they become 'it' next and so on and so forth."

She finished typing and different sized shapes appeared throughout the room serving as obstacles. "Training program three accessed," the computer announced.

Wally lightly kicked a large, grey cube-like thing and was surprised when his foot made contact with it rather than passing through it. "Cool, this is just like the holodeck from Star Trek. You know, where items appear real even though they aren't as long as they stay in the room they were created in."

"You are such a nerd," Artemis commented.

Wally shot her a dirty look. "Just for that, I'm tagging you," he said, pointing at her as he spoke.

Her rosy lips curved into a smirk. "Come and get me if you can," she replied, accepting the challenge.

x x x

Nobody could say Wally didn't try. He might have been the fastest boy alive, but Artemis was no slouch. In fact, with all the obstacles in his way and everybody using their special skills, he was having trouble tagging anybody. As soon as the game started, Megan went invisible so Wally didn't even consider tagging her. Artemis and Robin couldn't turn invisible like Megan, but they might as well have since they were busy being ninjas among the obstacles, leaving Wally with no idea where they were hiding. He tried for Kaldur, but the Atlantean used his tattoos to generate enough water to create a puddle large enough for Wally to slip on, causing him to slide right past the team leader and into the wall. Flat on his back, staring up at the grey ceiling, Artemis's face suddenly appeared over his, a mischievous smile on her lips.

"Smooth," she said, tapping his forehead with her finger tauntingly."You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that if you plan on catching me."

With a growl, Kid Flash scrambled to his feet, but by then the blonde had vanished again. He didn't care if it would be easier to tag a different member of the team; he was going to get Artemis no matter what. Robin decided to get in on the action and poked Wally in the back while laughing.

"For being so fast you sure are slow!" he cackled, egging his friend on.

Wally whirled around to face the Boy Wonder but he was already ducking behind an oblong obstacle. Before the speedster could move, a hand connected with the back of his head in a quick swipe, followed by another snide comment from Artemis. After a few minutes of this, the game of tag had broken down into one of Robin and Artemis teasing Wally. The other three teammates, clearly no longer participants, sat down on the side to watch in amusement. Kid Flash was growing more and more irritated with each passing minute. It was bad enough that he hadn't managed to tag Robin or Artemis despite the fact that they were openly goading him, but they were ganging up on him as well. Even though he was allowed to use his super speed, the obstacles in the room prevented him from moving as fast as he would have liked, forcing him to settle for above average sprints. Plus, they helped Artemis and Robin dodge his advances while supplying places to hide. He was running out of time. The training session would be over with soon, and he wouldn't have managed to tag a single member on the team.

Talk about a blow to his self-esteem.

"What did I tell you when we trained together two weeks ago?" Artemis's voice suddenly sounded from nearby. "Speed isn't everything! Stop rushing around and try concentrating on where we might be!"

"Don't tell me what to do! You're not the boss of me," Wally barked back.

Despite his irritated response, he still came to a halt and took a deep breath in an attempt to relax. The room was quiet as he focused on his target. He pinpointed Robin's whereabouts first as the younger boy was currently moving towards the speedster behind the objects in an attempt to tease him some more. Wally ignored him. He didn't want Robin, he wanted Artemis. It had to be Artemis. And then his eyes homed in on it. A flash of silken blonde, a smattering of green moving between objects on the other side of the room. Just as Robin moved out of hiding to poke Kid Flash again, Wally rocketed out of his reach. He moved along the straightest path in order to maintain the highest amount of speed he could within the training room.

Artemis didn't know what hit her, literally. One minute she was watching Wally a safe distance away, the next he was a blur of red and yellow and she was lying on her back, him on top of her, the wind all but knocked out of her from the force at which he'd tackled her. She couldn't help but smile as she stared into his vibrant green eyes. The look on his face was worth getting tagged. It was a look of surprise and elation wrapped into one at having caught her. It was, dare she even think it, kind of cute . . .

When Wally looked down he expected to see irritation and anger on the archer's face at his success in catching her. Instead all he saw was a gentle smile and what looked like satisfaction twinkling in her dark eyes. She was actually pleased with his performance.

"Now that was impressive," she spoke softly.

His look quickly changed to one of near bashfulness at her statement. He'd never received anything close to a complement from Artemis before. It was strange, but in a really good way. He had no idea how much he'd wanted to hear something like that from her until he actually did. That thought scared Wally. Since when did he care what Artemis thought of him? Scarier still was the fact that he liked the feel of her body pinned beneath his. Instead of wanting to scramble as far away from the blonde as possible, like he should have, he actually wanted to run his hands along the curve of her hips (the ones he was forced to look at on a regular basis but never allowed to touch), which happened to be flush with his own, and pull her even closer if it were at all possible. Before he could do something that might very well end his life, the sound of someone clapping broke through his impure thoughts. He and Artemis turned their heads to see Black Canary slowly clapping her hands together as she approached them.

"Well done, Wally. That was quite a performance at the end."

"Yeah, except the game's called 'tag' not 'tackle,'" Robin joked. "Anyway, you two gonna stay like that all day or what?"

Blushing furiously, Wally and Artemis sprang to their feet, eyes refusing to meet.

"I think that's enough for today. You're all dismissed," their instructor announced.

x x x

After cleaning up and changing back into civilian clothes, Wally headed for the kitchen to grab a snack to tide him over until Megan cooked dinner. As he approached the end of the hallway that led into the kitchen he heard voices. As they grew louder he realized they belonged to the two female members of the team. Naturally, his curiosity got the better of him, and he just had to eavesdrop.

"I just found out that Happy Harbor High's Homecoming is next month," Megan squealed. "There's a pep rally and a big football game that the cheerleaders put on a huge half time show for, which I'll be part of since I am a cheerleader now," she giggled, "and the next day there's a big social function where everyone dresses fancy in pretty dresses and suits! My new friends on the squad called it a 'dance.' I'm so excited!" A shy look suddenly replaced her excited one. "I was thinking of asking Conner . . . you know, to be my date. Do you think he'd say yes if I ask?"

Artemis smiled reassuringly at her friend. "Sure. You guys have gotten pretty close in the last month."

It was clear that the mission to Bialya hadn't been an odd experience for Wally and Artemis alone. Ever since the team had returned, Megan and Conner seemed closer. Artemis couldn't pinpoint how exactly, she just knew that things had changed between them. Unlike the seemingly temporary change in the relationship between her and Wally, the relationship change between Megan and Conner seemed pretty stable.

The Martian's green cheeks turned a nice shade of red. "Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just a little worried he might say no because he wouldn't want to go to something like this."

"If it means going with you, I'm sure he'd be more than willing."

The smile on Megan's face brightened as she asked, "What about your school? Do they have Homecoming there?"

"Of course. Every high school has Homecoming. Colleges too actually, and it always takes place during fall semester," Artemis explained matter-of-factly.

"I see," Megan replied. "So it's an Earth thing."

"It's not so much an Earth thing as a United States thing."

"Oh. Well, are you going to attend your Homecoming?"

Wally held his breath. He didn't care that Megan was dying to go with Superboy, it just didn't bother him like it should have. He did, however, care if Artemis planned on going to Gotham Academy's Homecoming, more specifically, if she planned on going with a date. Something he should not care about, but oddly did.

Artemis shook her head. "Nah."

Wally exhaled as relief flooded through him, to his utter surprise. He chided himself for his reaction. It didn't matter if Artemis had a date lined up for Homecoming, it didn't make a difference, or so he insisted to himself.

Megan frowned at her friend. "But why?" She couldn't imagine a girl not wanting to go to something like that, it sounded like so much fun when her Earth friends explained it to her.

"It's just not really my thing, you know?"

It was at this point that Wally decided to throw in his two cents. He approached the girls, gaining their attention when he'd gotten close enough.

"It's better you don't go anyway. You probably wouldn't be able to get a date even if you tried," he commented in an offhand tone even though he knew that wasn't true.

Robin had even informed him that someone from their school had asked Artemis already. It was a stupid thing to say, but he said it anyway just to try and get under her skin. He was irritated that she'd taken over Robin, and even more so that she hadn't paid him the slightest bit of attention all week, even though he told himself repeatedly that he shouldn't – and therefore didn't – want anything more to do with the archer than was necessary for the team. No, the strong desire to be closer to her – among other things – that forcefully stirred deep inside of him earlier when his body had been pressing down on hers was nothing. His hormones didn't know the difference between one girl and another, and would flare up no matter who the female pinned beneath him had been, that was all.

He pressed on. "Anybody dumb enough to take you out would regret it by the end of the night anyway."

Artemis's eyes narrowed as anger began to roll off her body in waves. What did he know? She couldn't believe that a part of her had actually enjoyed the physical contact they'd had, even if it had been inadvertent, not 30 minutes ago. How he could go from almost cute to infuriating in such a short amount of time, she would never understand. All he had to do was open his mouth it seemed, which was something he did constantly of course.

"Not that it's really any of your business, but somebody already asked me to go, and I think I'll take him up on his offer after all," she replied coolly.

Artemis had actually been planning to stick around for Megan's Saturday night dinner, but she wasn't willing to end up in another pointless argument with Kid Mouth. She turned her back on him and stomped towards the hall that would lead her to the Gotham City zeta tube, Wally's eyes following her until she was out of sight. Once she was gone he let out a halfhearted sigh. She wasn't going to attend Gotham Academy's Homecoming; she'd had no interest in going. And now she was on account of his big mouth. Wally could have smacked himself.

It was painfully ironic.

Robin walked into the kitchen, passing Megan as she left, and Wally zipped over to him, anxious to speak with him.

"Hey, why are you and Artemis so close all of a sudden?" Wally demanded outright.

Caught off guard, Robin paused in his stride. His eyebrows rose over his sunglasses.

"What?"

"You and Artemis. What's with the buddy-buddy act all of a sudden? You guys have hardly talked since she joined the team. Suddenly, you two are practically inseparable! What's the deal?"

"Nothing," Robin replied.

"That's definitely not 'nothing.'"

"Why does it matter anyway?"

"It doesn't! I just-look just tell me what's been going on!"

Robin had been having suspicions about Wally's behavior when it came to their blonde teammate, suspicions that were supported by the way his best friend had asked if Artemis had gone on any dates since switching schools, and by the way he was staring at her after he'd tackled her during their training session earlier. And now the speedster was practically attacking him simply because he and Artemis had been spending more time in each other's presence than they had previously. If Robin didn't know any better, he'd think Wally was-

"Wait, are you actually jealous?" the Boy Wonder voiced aloud, a smirk making its way to his face.

"Of course not!" Wally denied despite the reddening of his cheeks.

"Dude, you totally are, aren't you!" Robin all but laughed. At Wally's near murderous look, he said, "Look, there's definitely nothing going on between us, so you don't have anything to worry about."

"I'm not worried," Wally insisted.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say."

"I just don't get it. What does she have that you suddenly want to spend so much time around her?"

"I told you, nothing. We just have some things in common that's all. Like being the only two on the team without any actual powers and living in Gotham. Plus we attended the Academy together too. She's kind of like the sister I never had, that's all," Robin replied, not thinking much of his answer.

And then it hit Wally. Maybe it wasn't so much what she had but what she knew. Robin's civilian identity was something he didn't get to share with anyone. But what if someone did know? Wouldn't that automatically make him close to that person by default, even if they hadn't had much of a relationship before? If the Academy was something they had in common and Artemis knew that, then there was a good chance she figured out who Robin was out of costume, especially since the boy had been charged with following her around on a daily basis. Wally knew that had been a risky move on the Dark Knight's part. Artemis had proven to be just as apt at being sneaky as Robin. It was the only thing he could think of that would suddenly make the two of them so close. Artemis had to have found out Robin's civilian alias.

Robin watched as a myriad of indistinguishable emotions passed over his best friend's face in a matter of seconds. Then Wally looked him straight in the eye and said, "Artemis knows your secret identity, doesn't she? That's why you two are suddenly so close, isn't it?"

Robin was struck speechless. It was times like these that he had to admit nobody gave Wally enough credit when it came to his intellectual level. When his friend didn't respond, Wally went on, his voice angry and bitter.

"I can't believe you won't tell me but you told her! You hardly know her! I'm your best friend!" he yelled, flailing his arms about in frustration.

He'd always wanted to know Robin's identity. After all, they were best friends and Robin knew his identity, it was only fair that Wally knew Robin's. But his friend was adamant about keeping it a secret, and even though he didn't like it, Wally respected his decision. He'd teased Robin here and there about being so secretive, but he'd never pushed the boy to tell him. They'd been friends for quite a while now, but Wally still didn't know who Robin really was and therefore hardly knew anything about the boy. And yet Artemis had waltzed unbidden onto their team and into their lives only last month and she knew who Robin was behind the mask and sunglasses. It was infuriating.

"No, it's not like that!" Robin insisted, not bothering to deny that Artemis knew. "You know Batman's rule! I didn't tell her, she-"

Overwhelmed with hurt and something akin to betrayal, Wally glared at his supposed friend and cut him off. "You know what? Just save it," he said before he blurred out of Robin's sight.

To be continued . . .

A/N: Meh, not my favorite chapter, but I'd still really like to know what you guys think. I've loved the feedback I've gotten so far, so much that I've read all of your comments more than once :) So thank you so much for taking the time to leave them, really. Again I apologize for the amount of time between updates. Hopefully the spitfire moments and drama made up for it some. See you in chapter 6 (which I have started at least).

SakuraJade