A/N: Shout outs to randomkitty101, HorseLoverTW, lindz4567, Beautiful-Dark, annielcresta, dragonbird23, Feelin' the Aster and Beachlover470. And a few more shout outs to Karma, Guest and Keepmovingforwar for commenting on my first chapter.

A lot of Zaina's past hasn't been revealed yet, hence why I've been getting a few questions regarding her mother. So, this chapter will serve as a flashback to answer these questions. So, prepare yourselves for a lot of fluff!

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

Chapter 3

"So, you're sure you don't need me to talk to the teacher to give you extra time?" Dick's in his office room at Wayne Tech, the phone pressed against his ear as he rearranges his desk.

"I'm pretty sure, Dad." Zaina's voice comes out of the other end of the line. "I just need to work a bit harder."

"You're already pushing yourself to your limits." Dick counters. He hears a sigh at the other end.

"I'm fine, Dad." She insists. "Anyway, I gotta go now. Don't wanna be late."

He hums in agreement as he hears a click at the end of the line. He puts the phone down and drops down on the chair. He rests his elbows on the desk as he puts his head in his hands. Being a single dad wasn't easy. He had work managing the Wayne Tech plant at Palo Alto, while dealing with a hard-headed teenager as well as fulfill his superhero duties. Why did his daughter have to be exactly like him? He finally understood why Bruce had always been so exhausted when he came home from work and still insisted on patrol. He grins as he thinks about how Tim's doing with his little girl. But, at least he had a wife who took care of her. He had absolutely no idea what Dick was going through.

Despite all the exhaustion, Dick would never regret taking Zaina in. He could still remember the day he first saw her:

"Sorry, I couldn't come over, Artemis. I've got Wayne Tech stuff." He grins.

"It's totally fine, Dick. I know you're doing the best you can." Artemis tells him over the phone. "I gotta go now."

"Yeah, me too." He says as he hears the bell ring.

Dick quickly runs a hand through his hair and gets up to answer the door. When he opens the door, he gets a huge surprise. Standing outside his door is a girl he knew only too well. She's about his age with long dark auburn hair and brown eyes. She looks as stunning as ever, but then he remembers why they broke up in the first place. But what's got his attention is the bundle of cloth in her arms.

"Jessica?" he asks. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in like, what, nine months?"

"You remember the last time we were together; the night before we broke up? Well, I was pregnant, thanks to you. This is our daughter." She leans forward and places the bundle in his arms. He's still in shock as he slowly moves the blanket to see a tiny face peeping out from the blankets.

He looks up at her. "You're serious?" he asks. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen…"

"I know. That's why I'm giving her to you." Jessica cuts in.

"To me? You're giving her to me?"

She nods. "My parents will kill me if they find out about her. They'll make me give her up for adoption. I don't want that to happen. But, I can't stick around."

"Then why don't you take her with you?" Dick asks.

"She was born yesterday." She tells him. "It's too soon for her, but I can't risk meeting her again."

"You mean…?"

"I'm leaving, for good."

This was still too much for Dick to process. Jessica looks down at the baby in his arms. "Goodbye, my little angel," she says, stroking the baby's cheek with her fingers, "Mommy'll miss you very much." She looks up to Dick. "I'm sorry, Dick. Take care of her, for me." She leans forward and presses a kiss to his cheek, turns around and walks away. He's pretty sure this is the last time he'll ever see her.

His and Jessica's relationship was pretty complicated. It took no time at all to even realize that they weren't even in love with each other. Yet, they still stayed together for a few months before it became too much for Dick. Everything he had to do like handling the Team, protecting Artemis and Kaldur's covers while trying to make a plan to bring down the Reach and the Light was finally taking its toll on him. Wally's death was the last straw and he pretty lost control. He can still remember holding Jessica, who had tried to be there for him, but couldn't as she didn't know about his other life. The next few nights, he couldn't help it, but as much as he tried to hold back as he knew he would hurt her, he lost control. It's not like they hadn't slept together before, but since Wally's death, it got rougher. He began to vent out his feelings through it. It went on like this for a few weeks until he began to feel concerned for her. After a night of extremely rough sex, he broke up with her the following morning. He figures it was that night that got her pregnant.

He sighs, not knowing what to do. He had been a father, yet he didn't know it. He should have ended it sooner, he knew that. Yet, like a fool, he continued and this was the result. He would never see her again. He looks down at the baby once again. Somehow, however bad he felt, this child was his. And seeing that tiny face fast asleep, he felt a new feeling in his heart, a fatherly feeling.

As the baby opens her eyes, he's surprised as he definitely recognizes that shade of blue. She has his eyes. He can't help but smile as his heart feels like it could explode. She gives a tiny yawn and then holds her hands up. He instinctively put his finger into her grasp and smiled as she played with his fingers.

"Don't worry my little angel. Daddy's got you now."

It had been a tough decision, but in the end, he didn't regret it. It had been about a month since Jason was born and even though he was stressed, he still managed to make it work. She's grown up so much; it's hard for him not to feel proud.

Luckily for her, Artemis got the day off. She spent the day setting up the house. Before she knew it, she had a photo album open with tears running down her cheeks.

This particular album had all the photos of her and Wally before she decided to go undercover. She looked so happy then, like she didn't have a care in the world. She looks at one of the pictures of her and Wally at an amusement park. He has his arm around her shoulders and his face has a huge smile on it. He looks so adorable she wonders how it's possible. She can hardly recognize herself in that picture, looking so free and happy. She wonders how long it's been since she felt like that.

She looks up and her eye catches a framed photo on the wall. In that, she and Dick are in the background with Jason and Zaina in front. Dick has his arm around her shoulder and their kids are making peace signs above each other's heads. For once, she actually looks happy. She remembers that this picture was taken a few years ago during Christmas. She had been extremely surprised with the gifts Jason and Zen gave her. She still doesn't know how a twelve-year-old could have given her such a beautiful present. She's not surprised by Zaina's gift considering who her father is.

Still, she's never seen a tighter friendship than what her son has with her best friend's daughter. She can still remember how it all started:

"Mommy, can we go out for ice-cream?" Five-year-old Jason asks, tugging on his mother's dress.

Artemis always found it hard to resist her son's demands since he always asked so sweetly. But, right now he was looking at her with his huge green eyes and she instantly felt like melting.

"Okay, we can go for ice-cream." She just has to smile at the way her son jumps up and down in excitement. She wonders for a second how he would have turned out if he knew Wally.

Artemis stops the car outside Jason's favorite ice-cream parlor. She tells him to slow down as he tries to jump out. When she looks out, she thinks she's seeing things, because the car on the other side of the road looks just like Dick's.

Jason tries to get in as fast as possible and Artemis struggles to make him stay with her. Her eyes widen as in front of her, by the flavors, is Dick. He has a small girl holding onto her hand. Artemis smiles as she guesses that Zaina wanted an ice-cream as well and this was the best ice-cream in town. She then feels Jason tugging at her hand, urging her to come.

"Mom, come on!" he says. She laughs just because she has to.

"Why don't you go and pick out a flavor? I'll be right there."

He rushes off to stand beside the black-haired girl. She watches Dick look at him and a questioning gaze creep into his eyes. He turns around and smiles when he sees her and beckons her closer.

"You too, huh?" he laughs, giving her that familiar smirk that she knew all too well.

She nods. "It's just too hard to resist the puppy dog eyes, especially when they're coming from a five-year-old." He hums in agreement and turns around to see what his daughter was doing.

Jason and Zaina were leaning over, looking at all the different flavors. Their faces are scrunched up in thought. Artemis almost laughs at how at how they're thinking so much. She also feels a bit of jealousy as they had to scratch their brains about which flavor to take, not whether she should pick up the bow or the knife.

"I think I'll take the chocolate chip." Zaina says. Jason looks over at her.

"Chocolate chip? Haven't you had any?" he asks her.

"Loads of times, but I can't decide what flavor I should take, so I'll just settle with what I love."

"Then why don't you try mint?" he asks. "It's amazing."

She shrugs. "Okay, I'll try it." She says. "What are you taking?"

"I'm trying out the Fruit Swirl." He says enthusiastically. "My name's Jason."

"My name's Zaina." She says.

They shake hands and Artemis feels like bursting from all the cuteness. Dick smiles at them both. "Looks like they'll be fast friends."

"What makes you so sure?" she jokes.

"Wally and me. It's genetic." He shrugs. She punches his shoulder playfully.

She's too busy laughing to notice that the kids are back. Dick puts his arms around his daughter's waist, bringing his fingers together over the small of her back as she tells him what flavor she wants. Jason stands in between Artemis's legs.

"Mom, I want the Fruit Swirl." He says in a really sweet voice.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Dick stand up and take Zaina to the counter. She herself stands up and holds her son's hand. To her surprise, she sees Dick ordering four ice-creams. Why four? As she wonders, Dick gives one of them to his daughter and then turns to them. He walks over to them and bends down to give Jason his Fruity Swirl ice-cream.

"Thank you." Jason smiles, licking the rainbow ice-cream as Dick stands up and hands one of the remaining two to her.

"Dick, you don't have to…" she tries but he shakes his head.

"Nope. It's my treat this time, so don't try to pay me back." He says firmly. Rolling her eyes, she takes the ice-cream. "Just so you know, I'm getting you back some day."

"I doubt it." He grins. Suddenly, she remembers that the kids hadn't been introduced to them yet.

"By the way, Jason, this nice man is Dick Grayson." Artemis tells her son.

"Zaina, this lady is Artemis Crock." Dick tells Zaina.

The two kids greet their parents' friends and then go back to eating their ice-cream and talking about some kiddy stuff.

"Looks like they really will become good friends." Artemis says. Dick nods.

"I told you it was genetic."

Soon, after that first meeting, they found out that they lived real close to each other as Dick was moving to Palo Alto. This brought them closer, till they found out about each other's interest in dancing. It slowly escalated from there till they became inseparable. They treated each other like siblings. But, she never thought Zaina could keep anything from Jason as he knew almost every embarrassing thing about her. He knew her inside out that he could even guess what she was about to say at times. So, what was she hiding?

A/N: hope you liked it, guys. I also put in how Jason and Zaina met. It might not be as you expected, but they are two five-year-olds. And I can definitely imagine two five-year-olds bonding over ice-cream.

Just so you know, it's not the first time Artemis and Dick are meeting. They kept in contact, but they just reconciled at the parlor.

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