I'm baaaaaaaack! I told you guys I would try to update more often and finish up this story. Let me know what you think, blah blah blah, does anybody ever read these things? If you want follow my tumblr account for oneshots. They won't all be Young Justice. Just look for lil-fledgling. Hope you like this chapter! Stay safe and happy.

lil-fledgling

Chapter 9

Sundays meant training with mentors, and Artemis was on edge, which was uncommon for training days with Green Arrow. Usually she loved to spend time with Ollie, having a proper older male figure in her life made Artemis feel… normal. And loved. Sure M'gann loved her, and so did her mom, and Artemis was sure the others on the team were fond of her, just as she was of them, but Ollie-. Ollie was the first person that took the time to get to know her, understand her as Artemis Crock, and who she was. He always made it to her sporting events at school, he was always so proud of her when she did well on a test or took the time to help her study when she needed extra help. Ollie was the first person to show her love since her mother went to jail and Artemis soaked it up like a sponge. She was so desperate for love and attention and Ollie was willing to give her everything she needed.

It took all of Artemis's strength not to run at Ollie when he came through the zeta tubes and tell him about everything that had happened, with her mother, her job, the money situation, that Robin and Wally had found out about everything. Instead she waited for him in the training room, head down, eyes fixed on the floor, bow in hand. In times of stress her father's training came back to the archer subconsciously, a fact Ollie knew too well and noticed the minute his protégé didn't meet him like all the others did.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or are we going to have to play 20 questions." Artemis didn't even flinch as his straightforward words, and shot three arrows perfectly into their intended targets. "You know, I bet Flash doesn't have these kinds of problems with Kid." Green Arrow muttered to him self. Artemis drew another arrow from her quiver and shot it so flawlessly that it split another down the center.

"That's because Wally can't control his mouth," Artemis said plainly. "He's an idiot." But she didn't mean the last part and Ollie knew that.

"He's a genius, don't pretend like you don't know it." Artemis rolled her eyes, pulling arrows from the foam targets. "Yeah, whatever." Green Arrow narrowed his eyes dangerously and moved with nearly invisible speed to stand in front of the girl he strongly considered family. Surprising her, he yanked the bow from her hand and threw it on the group behind him.

"Hey what are you-" Artemis tried to get around him to her bow, a very expensive piece of equipment that Ollie knew very well that she could not afford to replace if broken.

"We're sparring." Green Arrow snapped, pointing to the empty fighting pad. "I don't know what's got you in such a twist Artemis but we're going to fight it out since it's the only language you seem to understand." Artemis tried not to bristle and Ollie's harsh words. But maybe getting kicked around would help clear her head and give her a few moments of clarity to help her come up with her next plan of attack.

"Fine," Artemis said stubbornly, shrugging off her quiver and moving towards the center of the room. "whatever you say."

Green Arrow, Batman and The Flash all stood stoic outside the zeta tubes through which Artemis had just sprinted through, mumbling something about being late.

"What's wrong with her?" Flash asked Green Arrow. "She's acting even stranger than usual, which is saying something." Green Arrow snorted.

"Like you can talk. You're nephew breaks the sound barrier on the daily. Compared to him nothing Artemis can do is strange." The Flash considered this for a moment than nodded.

"Excellent point." Ollie mockingly tipped his cap and the two men chuckled. Batman, on the other hand, ignored the other men's antics and was considering Artemis's behavior and potential causes.

"Might it have something to do with her family? Her home life or other wise?" Green Arrow stopped laughing and seriously thought the Dark Knight's words over.

"Maybe. Come to think of it, I really should go see Paula, check in on how she's doing and maybe get some insight on what's going on with Artemis." The hero's face darkened and his fist's clenched unconsciously. "What if Sportsmaster's back?"

"Unlikely, as I've heard nothing about a break out at Arkham, but I can check." Batman brought up the computer on his wrist and began going through the prison's inmate list, Green Arrow watching over his shoulder, talking ominously back and forth about the possibility of Artemis being stalked and/or harassed by members of The Light. Flash rolled his eyes and pulled off his cowl to massage his temples. Sometimes the most obvious answers were right in front of them and they were too caught up in looking for complicated solutions to even consider the simplest one.

"What if its girl problems." Both men looked up from the screen, confused looks on their faces. The Flash sighed, the impending headache beginning to hit him. How could such brilliant men be so ignorant?

"You know, girl problems. Maybe there's a boy at school she likes, or some girls are picking on her because of her cloths or something, I don't know! Girls are complicated, with their hormones and frilly underwear and weird fashion trends. For all we know she could be on her period and-"

"That's enough," Batman commanded, turning away from his comrades to hide his embarrassment. "We'll ask Canary to talk to her tomorrow when she comes in, let her deal with it." Ollie cleared his throat, he too had been taken aback by The Flash's straight forwardness and needed a minute to compose him self. "I think that's the best course of action yes." How had he not thought of these things? Was she having boy trouble? Had someone broken her heart? Ollie felt his blood begin to boil, but when he thought of Artemis with anyone, surprisingly, he could only see her with Wally, and somehow he knew with out a shadow of a doubt that he would never do anything to hurt Artemis.

All three men were startled out of their thoughts by Red Tornado's voice over the intercom.

"All members of the team please report to the mission room. Captain Cold, Killer Frost, Icicle and Icicle Jr. have been spotted in Gotham City."