A/N: I LOVE you guys! Your reviews make me want to sit down and type the heck out of my computer. I do apologize for how long it's been taking me to get the chapters out however. My life is just one heap of crazy right now; it really means so much to me that you all enjoy this story so much. (lyrics from: h t t p : / / w w w . a z l y r i c s . c o m / l y r i c s / e n r i q u e i g l e s i a s / h e a r t b e a t . h t m l)

[ps. I believe I have gotten the mixed-chapters-fiasco all sorted. If not let me know asap please]

Wednesday, 2nd of May

7:57pm

"So when's this thing start, anyways?" Artemis demanded, shifting uncomfortably in her dress-slacks.

"Like the speaker said two minutes ago, it'll start in five minutes. Has it been five minutes?" Wally asked, rolling his eyes and looking smug.

"…No." she growled back, clenching her jaw and rolling her eyes.

"Then stop asking," Conner said absently, pulling at his collar.

"And you stop fidgeting," Megan said, gently slapping at the hand that was pulling.

"Man, it was nice of her to invite us," Wally said looking around and eyeing the food.

"Of course she invited us, don't act so surprised." Dick said, glancing boredly around the room.

"Wha—geez when'd you get here?" Wally demanded, jumping at the ninja-esk boy's appearance.

"What're you talking about, I've been here the entire time," the younger boy smirked.

"Filling in for the big man?" Wally rolled his eyes as he questioned.

"Mr. Wayne couldn't be here tonight, so he asked Alfred and me to represent him," Dick said casually.

"So, excited for the performance Kaldur?" Dick asked innocently, smiling.

Kaldur shot him a side-glance. "Yes, Cailan seemed very excited for this; it is her first performance as a part of Gotham Troupe,"

Artemis looked closer at her leader, did she notice a slight flush to his cheeks?

The lights dimmed and everyone began hushing. Music started playing and people dressed in head to toe black walked out and laid down mats. The audience stepped back, clustering closer together. Artemis was bumped and turned to see Wally, being apologized to. She relaxed, seeing it wasn't his fault.

He's…warm… she began thinking, remembering their near-catastrophic mission in the desert. And despite his totally scrawny looks, he's awfully strong too…

The lights over the audience went fully out and spot lights over the mats struck on. The mirrors at the back of the studio reflected the light back to the audience, showing them their own shadowy faces in front of the spatter-painted-cement wall they stood in front of. Megan was marveling at the pretty and unique setting—it was something she'd never seen before; Conner was glaring around at all the people who were crushing in around him—making him more claustrophobic by the second; Artemis was shaking her head and washing away her sudden thoughts of Wally—he was just an annoying kid she'd gotten stuck with as part of her team, nothing more; Dick was glancing around, taking note of everything—the only way to never be surprised by an attack was to be constantly on the alert, expecting to be attacked; Wally was stealing glances at the food table—he was debating whether he could make it to the table and back without being noticed; Kaldur was staring at the mats, waiting for Cailan to appear and start dancing—she was a beautiful dancer.

[Enrique]
Heartbeat

The lights flickered over the mats, and the one over the left went out for a brief few seconds. It came back on with the pulse of the music, and when it had there was a male danger standing there, clothed only in fitted sweat-pants (or male-leggings).

[Enrique]
Heartbeat

It was the same for the right side of the mats; they went out and came on with the pulse of the music, and when they'd come back on there was a man standing there. This man was in mid-thigh shorts that hugged his legs closely.

[Enrique & Nicole]
Heartbeat Heart-heartbeat

When it happened a third time it was a female dancer who'd appeared on the mats in front of the audience. She was curled up, only her back and arms exposed to the audience.

[Nicole]
Heartbeat

At the next beat the girl had gracefully rolled onto her back, her legs still under her, her arms above her head, her eyes closed.

[Enrique]
Heartbeat Heart-heartbeat

The men turned to the girl, the man on the right had his left hand over his heart, the man on the left had his right hand over his heart while their opposite hands moved so that they were positioned over the young woman's body. As the song used musical beats to imitate heart palpitations, the men moved their hands, making it look as if the girl's heart were forcing their hands to move. On the last beat Cailan's upper torso rose up the floor, her shoulders and neck slumping backwards until she rose to her feet, as if pulled up by invisible strings.

[Enrique]
I saw you talking on the phone,
And know that you were not alone.
But you stealing my heart away,
Yeah you're stealing my heart away.

The crowd let out a collective gasp and tittering fit of clapping; Cailan was supporting her body in a very Matrix-esk pose, with most of her body parallel to the floor. It lasted only a moment however, before her counterpart on the right reached a very well muscled arm under her lower back and, keeping to the theme, made his hand look like it was causing her heart to beat. Slowly he pulled her up until she was standing normally; her eyes opened and he spun her gently around, keeping an arm around her lower waist the entire time—steadying her as it were, because she was dancing on the tips of her toes. The dancer Cailan was with twisted her around in his arms and let his hands support her from behind, moving them—to Kaldur's dismay much like a lover would—up and down her sides, occasionally gripping her just under her bust to lift her and move her when the other male dancer drew close to the two, following the song.

[Nicole]
You're acting like you're on your own,
But I saw you standing with a girl (hmmm)
Stop tryin' to steal my heart away
Stop tryin' to steal my heart away

The male in the long pants would dance in a sneaky fashion towards the couple, and then the male paired with Cailan would—just before Cailan and the other man collided—spin her or pick her up and move her out of the way, as if keeping her all for himself.

Kaldur felt his face growing a little red. Cailan was in compression shorts over a leotard and a sheer skirt; she was in compressions shorts, a leo and sheer skirt with men several years older than her with their hands all over her body. As he watched the first man picked her up and ran his hand from her leg up her chest to her neck. His hands clasped behind her and he spun her around, hardly holding her at all. The crowd gasped as he did so, her legs straightened to her side, offering her no support.

[Enrique]
I don't know where we going?
I don't know who we are?

Towards the end of the song the man lifted Cailan above his head and passed her over, his hands supporting her only by her lower torso, then her thighs. The second man stood behind him, slightly shorter, supporting her in between her shoulder blades, letting her arms fall open to the side spread eagle. The first lowered her legs until he could draw them to his side, holding her at her knees while the second man lowered still. Cailan was left by the end of the song supporting herself with only her abdominal muscles, her hand not quite touching the first man's face, her other hand having just pushed the second man away. Kaldur felt a little like boiling over.

…

9:08pm

"Kaldur what is with you?" Artemis asked, pulling him slightly aside from the others.

"…I suppose…I have decided that I do not care much for contemporary ballet…" his voice held a slight edge and she didn't press him.

Cailan was positively glowing, the center of the crowd's attention. Kaldur couldn't get close, which did nothing to improve his mood.

"Hey man, where are you going?" the Wall-man asked cheerfully, his green eyes flickering.

"Home." He took a deep breath and turned to face his friends. "I am…tired. Besides, we will not be able to congratulate her until tomorrow. Goodnight,"

"…her?" Dick questioned, looking to the others. "Since when did he refer to Cailan as 'her'?"

"What do you mean?" Conner asked, his brow furrowed, forgetting his collar for the moment.

"Uh…nothing." Dick said, shaking his head. "Well, it's good to know that I've got a good report for Mr. Wayne."

"Yeah, Cailan was perfect," Wally said, nearly drooling as he continued staring at the 'stage' at the front of the room, which was now empty and dark.

"Tch. You are such a womanizer Wally," Artemis growled, tossing her head contemptuously and turning away; her anger began to boil out again. Perfect Cailan, beautiful Cailan. Cailan, Cailan, Cailan. Stupid barbiedoll-princess-queen-bee-bi—

"Are you alright Artemis?" Megan asked, placing a Caucasian hand on her friend's suited shoulder.

Artemis jerked violently away. "Fine." She still wasn't too happy with the Martian either; Megan and Superboy—it bit hard at the blond. Not only had she been left in the dark to go on day dreaming about her crush and playing subtly for him while all the while he was probably laughing at her with his girlfriend Megan, but Megan didn't consider her a trusted enough friend to even let her know and save her the embarrassment. "I've got to get home too."

"You know," Conner said as he, Wally, and Dick grouped together, looking at Megan and Artemis' retreating back, "Aside from the supposed 'mole' that Kaldur kept from us a while ago, Cailan has really been the only thing to successfully tear us all apart."

"Hey! Don't say that! She hasn't done anything at all. It's not her fault that Artemis is an unforgiving, grumpy, jealous brat!" Wally flashed to anger, glaring at the super clone he stood next to.

"Artemis isn't unforgiving, or a jealous brat," Dick said, not mentioning grumpy, the blond could be rather grumpy. "But you wouldn't like it if the only thing Megan talked about was how awesome me or Conner was, totally ignoring you existed. Would you?"

"Don't be stupid. If Artemis is that sensitive, she needs to get over some issues," Wally rolled his eyes, his voice lowering again. "What's wrong with appreciating that Cailan is a good dancer?"

"Maybe the fact that you hit on her and just about every other girl you see?" Dick chuckled, shaking his head.

"Tch. Do not. Besides, there's nothing wrong with admiring girls."

"Well, you do not seem to admire Artemis much at all Wally," Megan said, tilting her head and letting her cheastnut hair swing back over her shoulder as she walked over to the group.

Wally's face went bright red. "Haha, don't admire her? What's there to admire. Sure, she's a good archer and I guess she contributes a good deal to our team and we're friends and all…but c'mon!"

"What?" Conner asked.

Wally got more red in the face (if that were possible) and tried to stutter out a good reason for it before simply changing the subject. "Well…do you think Kaldur was right? I mean…I don't wanna just leave Calie or anything, but we probably shouldn't hang around here if we're not even going to see her."

"Well…I could camoflauge and go to her dressing room and see if she can talk with us?" Megan suggested, looking at her group.

Dick shrugged. "As Bruce's rep. I can get back and talk to her all I want so it's up to you guys."

"Let's go with Dick's move…we don't want anyone to…figure out our 'extracurriculars,'" Wally said.

…

"I'm here to talk to Ms. Leal. I represent Mr. Wayne and Wayne Corp. I'm Richard Greyson," Dick said severely, hardly sending a glance through his shades to the man in the suit who blocked off the dancer's rooms from the main studio.

"I'll need to see some sort of identification and permission," the man said, looking around hesitantly, hoping a superior would show up soon so that he wouldn't have to deal with the kid himself.

"Tch. Fine. I suppose its better that you're so careful; Mr. Wayne wouldn't want anything to happen to his investment." Being fully prepared and used to such suspicions, Dick showed what the guard wanted to see and made his way towards Cailan's dressing room.

…

"I'm not really—"

"C'mon kid, we were perfect together out there tonight," Blain was saying, leaning heavily on the arms of her chair, blocking her exit.

"…we're both talented…" she conceded, not wanting to make enemies—especially so soon. "but…I don't think…I mean, the age and talent difference…and then there's my own situation… I—"

"Hahah. You're nineteen, right?"

"Eighteen,"

Blain ignored her and continued. "Nineteen is old enough to be making your own decisions. And talent wise? Look here kid, you wanna make it big you need to be working with people like me. People who've been around, who get noticed by scouts and producers and big shots; you need to be around people better than you if you want to improve.

"Think about all the new things I could show you," he leaned in on her seat closer.

"I thought you and Marci…well…I'm really not looking to get tangled up in anything. I just love dancing."

"Me and Marci is none of your business," Blain growled lowly. "C'mon kid, you can't tell me that you didn't like it out there, you and me, the way I held you—"

"You and Marci are my business if I don't want her to kick me out of the troupe. And what I felt out on that floor had nothing to do with you, so please don't try to tell me what I liked and what I want." She felt herself tremble though her voice seemed steady.

He stared hard at her for a moment and then let his eyes poor over her as she sat there. Her body flushed with a familiar sensation. She'd been with guys like him in high school. She knew what he was doing. Her whole body burned as she was suddenly naked under his gaze; she'd been visually undressed before. He wet his lips and slowly looked back up to her; Cailan tried to do her best to keep her own gaze even.

But this was what she knew. This was what was familiar. Weren't guys supposed to look at her that way? Wasn't that part of a strong relationship—desire? She could see that Blain obviously desired her. Sex was all that the male population thought about, or mostly thought about, right, isn't that what everyone said? They only wanted to get in your pants, right? Her body flushed—a sensation that she knew from walking down the halls of school—this was a normal feeling. Wasn't 'normal' considered 'right'?

"Do you not know that I care for you, have I not made it obvious?" Cailan swallowed hard.

Blain raised a hand along the side of her face. She couldn't make herself move, one way or another. Jumping at the knock on the door she turned from him, finally.

"You need to leave. Right now Blain."

He was just straightening when Dick walked in. With a smirk the man leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"It was a pleasure to dance with you tonight Cailan. Congratulations on your first performance with us,"

"Who was that?" Dick questioned after Blain'd walked through the door.

"He was my lead partner for the performances tonight," she said; she knew he was puzzled by the tone of her voice. It wasn't her fault, she was having trouble speaking.

"Are you alright?"

"Haha, yes. Just a bit tired. As if dancing weren't hard enough there's the politics, right? But I guess you know a lot about it huh kiddo?" she smiled and stood, pulling her hair down carelessly from the fancy bun she'd had it in to dance. Dick watched her run her fingers through it, doing nothing to stop the slight wave and bounce it'd acquired from her up-do.

"You're really pretty Cailan," he said calmly; she froze and straightened.

"Heh, thanks man." She said, passing it off. Of course she was pretty, why else would guys drool over her like a dog does meat?

"No." she looked at him, startled at his ascertain. "You're not just attractive. You're pretty. Really, pretty."

Her brow furrowed slightly, not understanding him. "…thank you…"

"The other's want to talk with you, but I think you should finish whatever you need to here, and then let Alfred take you back home."

"I can't, I want to—"

"They'll understand. We're your friends. Besides, you've got your own things to sort out. Just go home and relax." He smiled to her, a smile that was oddly really comforting.

"Sure thing, Dick," she smiled, suddenly feeling really tired.

"Oh," he looked back with his hand on the door. "And if that creep gives you any more trouble, let me know and I'll make him regret it."

She uttered a little laugh through her shock and shook her head. "You're such a little brother,"

He chuckled to himself and opened the door. "Thanks Dick,"

He winked and gave her thumbs up before walking through the door.

…

"She'll have to catch up with us tomorrow. It's alright for us to go home." Dick said.

"Alright, well, guess I'll see you all tomorrow?" Wally said, half questioning, already starting towards the door.

Megan and Conner waved, waiting for Dick to go too so that they could walk back to a transport holding hands unashamed.

"It's time for me to get back too. I'll catch you guys later," he faked a yawn and walked outside, hailing a cab. He was going to Wayne corp. first.

With their friends all gone, Megan and Conner relaxed. She smiled shyly up at him and he smiled calmly back, placing an arm over her shoulders and, when she wasn't looking, tugging at his stupid collar. It was the last time he'd ever wear a dress shirt, he swore mentally.

…

10:30pm

Cailan was relieved when she finally made it out of the troupe building. She couldn't decide if she wanted to take Dick up on his offer or not; Blain was a total creep, and yet…

Isn't that what Jake was like before you took a nose dive into this…thing with Kaldur?

She held her breath on the thought of Jake. She'd had a pretty crazy run with him a few months back. It was his fault she knew Baal and Jack… Cailan shuddered at the thought of those two. But Jake…what had happened to Jake? There hadn't been anything in the papers about him, at least, nothing she noticed. Her friends hadn't mentioned anything. He'd virtually disappeared.

Cailan hadn't been anywhere near the same scene that she'd lived with Jake, but she hadn't heard even a whisper about the new drug Jake had been taking.

She shook her head and hurried a thanks to Alfred as she slid into the car. That drug had been… She shivered again. A few months ago she'd been shivering from its diluted but nevertheless potent effects; she'd shivered at the look on Jack's face, at Baal's intent…

"Are you finding yourself comfortable, Miss Leal?" Alfred started her out of her thoughts.

"Uh, y-yes. I'm just a bit tired from tonight,"

"Very good miss."

The girl settled back in the seat and looked out the window.

…

11:02pm

"You know you're driving him crazy, right?" Artemis' dry voice said from the shadow of the armoire in Cailan's room.

Cailan gasped and spun around and backed into her bed. "Artemis,"

"Did you hear me?" the blond took a step forward, her arms still crossed over her chest.

"Sorry I didn't reply as you scared the hell out of me," Cailan smiled her high-school-smile at the girl.

"You're driving them both crazy."

"…Hhokay, I'll bite." Cailan massaged her temples. "Who am I driving crazy?"

"That's a joke, right?" Artemis demanded, her eyes widening in anger.

Calie arched a brow at her, crossing her arms self-consciously.

"…Kaldur and—and Wally." The spitfire spat out. "Kaldur and Wally. You're driving them crazy. They're just dumb guys underneath all of their heroic talents—some pretty girl comes long, bats her stupid long eyelashes and they're like melting putty and you—you!"

Artemis stalked forward, eyes flashing.

Cailan flushed and sputtered, alternately furious and embarrassed.

"You're playing them! I can see you, working them over, batting your damn lashes—conning them and, and dazzling them and, and…and"

The blond was fuming now, glaring at Cailan. Cailan stood and stared at her—she looked totally blindsided, but she was debating whether to start screaming at Artemis or whether she should try and keep her cool and let it play out. She was supposed to be a mature young woman; eighteen years old and she was still unable to keep her temper.

"I'm not playing anyone, Artemis."

"Tch. Don't lie to me, I'm sick of people lying to me! I'm sick of people not trusting me!"

"…great, so this is therapy-time now?" Cailan scoffed; Artemis was a strong-willed, iron-minded, tough girl. Cailan wasn't expecting the hurt look to flash through the younger girl's eyes.

Calie sighed heavily, almost deflating as she did so. "Ar-Artemis…I didn't mean that…"

"…"

"I really didn't…I…crap." Cailan sat down heavily on her bed. "I'm not playing anyone. Wally is a friend, a good friend. He's a sweet kid, and I care about him. But he's just a friend, he's just…just a kid. Like you're a kid. And I could never play Kaldur…I—I just couldn't, not to him."

"You've got them eating out of the palm of your hand and you expect me to believe that?" Artemis demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Cailan threw her hands up and slumped backwards on her bed. "I'm tired and confused; not to mention, you did happen to scare the hell out of me by just appearing in my room. What do you want from me?"

It was a good question. What did Artemis want from Cailan? Punching her in the face seemed pretty good at the moment.

"Artemis, I know you haven't liked me from the start, but seriously? I'm not trying to hurt Wally and Kaldur…I mean, we… Why on earth would I hurt him?"

"I know people like you. You'd hurt him to get whatever the hell it is you want."

Cailan bolted up and hung her head in frustration. "Wally's a friend. Kaldur's the one guy who—"

She heaved a sigh and gave up. "Kaldur's the one guy who's never made me feel like I wasn't just a walking fun-bag. And Wally's a good friend who helped me to smile again. You want to know what it's like to not be trusted? Try being locked up in a place that you don't know, that you don't even know where it is, and no one but the people who took you know you're there. Try living with people who shoot glances and have conversations about ways that you could be manipulating the situation and relaying information back to some unknown enemy. Or, how about, you're put in danger just about every day for the sake of people who don't care about your protection for you, but so that you don't give them up? Artemis, I've got no idea what you've been through, what your life has been like or what your situation is with your team; I'm just trying to deal with my own baggage and not bring the only person who matters to me down in the process."

"Touching speech."

"Does nothing get through to you?" Cailan was on her feet now. "What, you want me to go, want me to disappear? Would that make you happy, making Kaldur miserable?"

"Wow, no conceit Ms. Princess. Why would he be 'miserable'?" Artemis had cooled off and leaned against the wall with crossed arms.

"The same reason you'd be, if Wally ever does get an actual girlfriend." Cailan was a little surprised at her own revelation, but knew she was right at the reacting performance Artemis gave, sputtering and glaring at her. "Artemis, I love Kaldur. And your team, they're kinda like one-big-family. You don't hate me 'cause you think I'm pretty, or that I'm better than you. You can't stand me getting in on your family."

Cailan let the younger girl think about this, trying to keep herself calm enough and in 'the zone' so that she could keep up this brilliant line of thought as she took off her jacket and shoes and was working on a perfect exit into the bathroom.

"You know, if I were you, I'd probably hate me too." The dancer finally said, not looking at Artemis.

Artemis would know she was lying if she looked her in the face. It wasn't that Cailan would 'probably' hate herself. She did hate herself. She'd killed her own parents, couldn't find a decent way (if there was such a thing) to break Wally's heart, and was constantly doing the wrong thing with Kaldur.

Feeling that at least her parting speech sufficed, she walked through the bathroom door and locked it. She felt oddly proud of the situation, feeling she'd handled it well. It was almost like a movie or a story—as if the words had been written out for her and she was just saying them from someone else's mind. Maybe that was what it was like to be eighteen; she'd never really bought into the whole 'superiority of thought' that adults had always fed her as a child, but maybe there was actually something to growing up , she was beginning to think.

Though, she didn't give herself the credit of having matured at age eight and grown up into a responsible 'adult' by age ten. She hadn't had a childhood, not really. Cailan wasn't feeling the effects of having said something 'smart' or 'adult'. She was living off the high of having an immature fight where she got to act like a bratty kid, at least for the moment.