Disclaimer: I do not own any of the familiar characters from Young Justice.

Our Today

Chapter 5: A Likely Story

Throughout her time at Gotham Academy, Artemis realized that a school for the elites was no different than any other school she had attended. Just because the students were richer and supposedly smarter didn't mean there weren't cliques and bullies. In fact, sometimes it was even worse. But she had long ago decided she wanted no part in the school drama, and aside from Bette Kane whom she oftentimes found a good friend in, she preferred to be on her own.

When she had first started, some of the bolder boys had introduced themselves. She had heard whispers in the hallways of "that hot new halfie," and the cheerleaders had asked if she wanted to join the squad. She would've rather shot herself with her own arrow than prance around in a mini skirt, and upon telling them so, hadn't really been bothered ever since. It was nice not to have any additional responsibilities in school, especially given how chaotic her evenings tended to be with the team.

Today was similarly one of those days where she relished the peace and quiet of solitude at school. She had just secured a spot in the courtyard outside the cafeteria and was about to start on her lunch when she heard a loud dramatic sigh above her. A bag was suddenly thrown onto the table, making Artemis jump.

She looked up to see Dick Grayson typing something on his phone. He finished with finesse and tucked it into his pocket. "Man, I am so hungry today. I hope lunch is good."

Artemis stared. When Dick had said he wanted to be friends, she hadn't thought the friendship extended to being lunch buddies.

He didn't appear to be aware of her astonishment. "I'm going to see what slop they're serving today. You want anything?" When she merely shook her head, still mute, he just said, "All right, be back in a bit" and walked inside.

Artemis watched his retreating figure and then hyperventilated a little. Did she want this sudden intrusion into her life? Dick seemed relatively harmless, but from what she had seen in the past few months, he was entirely too friendly. She wasn't sure she was ready for so much sunshine in her life.

Bette Kane slid into the seat across from hers. "Was that Dick Grayson I just saw?" she asked without preamble.

Artemis sighed. "Yeah." She stared at her sandwich, having lost her appetite suddenly.

Bette lifted a brow. "Wow, I didn't know you were friends."

"We're… not. Well… I guess we sort of are now. He helped me out on a Calc test yesterday and we kind of became friends afterwards."

"It figures he'd be in upper class math." Bette grinned and unpacked her lunch. She always ate incredibly healthily, at least compared to Artemis. Today she had a grilled chicken salad with an apple for dessert. "That's brilliant of you though. You could use some help with math."

Artemis scowled and threw her lunch bag at Bette. "I guess it's a little weird. Not to be stereotypical, but I wouldn't have thought Grayson would be so… outgoing. I've always pictured mathletes to be…" She trailed off then, and gestured helplessly with a hand. "You know, kind of nerdy?"

"Oh he's nerdy for sure," Bette said. She speared a tomato with her fork and waved it dismissively. "But Grayson's also kind of unique. Maybe it's because he's loaded or because he's hot, but he's kind of friends with everyone. I don't know anyone who dislikes him, but I also don't know anyone really close to him, other than Gordon."

She groaned and dropped her head onto the table dramatically. "Great, 'friends with everyone' isn't the kind of friend I'm looking for right now."

Bette laughed. "You're just a huge grouch, Crock."

"I completely agree." Dick's voice suddenly popped up on her left. "You could give the Grinch a run for his money."

Artemis lifted her head to see Dick placing a tray of food next to her. Apparently the "slop" they were serving in the cafeteria was lasagna, but it smelled heavenly. He nudged her a little, forcing her to move over on the bench, and slid in on her left. He smiled at Bette. "Hey Bette, good to see you."

She grinned. "I hear you saved Artemis' butt on the Calc test yesterday."

Dick glanced at Artemis, who just took a savage bite out of her sandwich. "I don't know," he said. "I was feeling pretty woozy from my head wound, so maybe I could've gotten all the answers wrong. She might've been better off not partnering with me."

Bette's eyes widened. "Were you injured yesterday? I thought most of the hostages were freshmen."

He grinned and tapped his head, where a gauze pad was still visible. "Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch." It was smaller though, which Artemis took to mean it was slowly healing. It brought her some relief, although she was surprised she cared so much.

"I guess it can't be that serious if you're quoting Shakespeare."

"Good ol' Mercutio," he agreed cheerfully, and forked some lasagna into his mouth.

Artemis watched the exchange, feeling mildly confused. With the way Bette and Dick were acting, it was as if the incident wasn't a big deal at all. In fact, that seemed to be the attitude from the entire school—case in point, when the math test wasn't even cancelled after students had been held at gunpoint.

"Why is everyone so calm about the incident yesterday?" she asked. "Is this common?"

Dick looked at her, but Bette was the one who spoke. "I'm sure you've realized, but Gotham isn't exactly a safe city. We've had incidents here and there, but thankfully yesterday's was the first since you transferred here. If you grow up in this city, you kind of grow a thick skin over the years."

"That's…" Artemis wasn't sure what she was trying to say, but she ended up with "impressive."

Dick burst out laughing. "Well would you look at that? I think we've managed to show the lovely Artemis not all of us are so stuck up and helpless."

She felt her cheeks flush. "That's not what I meant."

"Stuck up and helpless? That sounds like someone I know." And for the second time that day, Artemis found her lunch table invaded by a stranger. Barbara Gordon, also carrying a tray of lasagna, seated herself next to Bette and grinned at Artemis. "Although I will give him some credit and say he's less helpless and more of just stuck up."

Bette lifted a brow at Artemis. "Wow, are you planning on joining the Math Club, Artemis? You've made friends with the president as well?"

Artemis stared at Bette, and then turned to Barbara, who gave her an enthusiastic wave. "You're the president of the Math Club?" This was clearly doing wonders for her non-existent reputation.

"Guilty," Barbara replied.

Dick's mouth quirked. "Not that I don't think highly of you, Artemis, but I'm not sure you'd even be able to pass our qualifying exam."

Artemis' jaw dropped, and without thinking about it, she socked him on the shoulder. It took her a moment after she processed Dick's yelp to realize she probably should not have done that to someone she had just barely gotten to know. It was an unfortunate knee-jerk reaction that had been ingrained in her from all the moments Robin or Wally said or did something stupid.

Barbara burst into laughter. "I like you. Why didn't we become friends earlier? Goodness knows Dick could use someone to put him in his place."

Dick scowled and rubbed his shoulder. "No one asked you, Gordon."

Bette grinned and starting packing up the remnants of her lunch. "As entertaining as this conversation is, I unfortunately have to leave a little earlier. Things are getting pretty busy with the dance coming up."

That brought Artemis out of her embarrassment. "We have another dance?" she asked in dismay. For some reason or other, dances seemed to be a pretty common occurrence at Gotham Academy, and she had never been fond of them. Despite her always having refused to attend, there were inevitably a couple guys who would ask her every time. It was a pain to deal with.

"This is probably the biggest one we'll have all year, second to the year-end gala, of course. It's the holidays. Everyone wants to party."

"What's the theme going to be?" Barbara asked.

"Not sure yet, that's what the meeting is about."

"As long as we're not naming the dance after the Abominable Snowman again," Dick said. "That got really weird really fast."

Bette rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm not sure how that idea ever got past the committee. Although I didn't have much faith in the senior class that year anyway." She packed up the rest of her lunch and departed with a quick wave.

Artemis looked at Dick. "You guys named a dance after a snowman?"

"Never let it be said that we aren't creative," he said drolly. He looked at his phone, which had just beeped, and grinned at the text. He appeared to be highly entertained by the message, which made Artemis wonder whether he had a girlfriend. Surely, the son of a billionaire would've had quite a few choices for his pick of girls. Bruce Wayne was certainly always in the news with one woman or another, but there was never a name that had stayed attached to his. Dick wasn't in the news as often as his adoptive father was, but it still piqued her curiosity.

"Sometimes I think we try too hard," Barbara said, sounding a little put out. "The way I see it, there's nothing wrong with good old-fashioned 'Winter Wonderland.'"

"And that's why you're the president of the Math Club and not the head of the Social Committee."

"Planning dances is definitely too much work."

"Attending them is also too much work," Artemis said. Both Dick and Barbara turned to look at her, identical expressions of shock on their faces. It made her hackles rise. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Dick groaned. "She really is the Grinch. Taking the fun out of everything."

"That's uncalled for," she protested. "It's just a lot of effort to get dressed up, and besides, I don't even know the majority of the students here."

He lifted a brow. "Well, miraculously I can think of a really great way for you to meet everyone at once. In one big room. With a lot of loud music."

Artemis scowled, thinking Dick was being, for the lack of a better word, a dick. Was it really necessary to give her so much grief about a stupid dance? It wasn't as if she was required to attend, and for that matter, who was he to berate her about this when they hardly knew each other?

"I'm not going to the dance," she said with finality. And that was that.

"We'll see about that," he promised, and his tone was so foreboding that Artemis almost considered calling off their friendship then and there. "In the meantime, we'd better get to class before we're slapped with a tardy slip."

As if on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Dick and Barbara tossed their lunches and stashed away the cafeteria trays, and with a quick wink at Artemis, Dick weaved his way through the wave of students heading to their fifth period classes.

"Grayson, I am not going to the dance!" Artemis shouted after him, but he was already out of earshot.

-X-

Artemis had to finish up her wretched essay on the woes of Othello before she could make it to the Cave, so by the time she got there, it was a full house. M'gann was in the kitchen baking, and Wally and Robin were on the couch, engaged in a heated duel on the PlayStation. She could hear Connor and Kaldur debating the merits of fishing somewhere off to the right, out of her immediate view.

"Hey Artemis!" Wally hollered. The greeting was immediately followed by a curse, and then he threw the controller on the table. There was a huge red "K.O." flashing on the screen. "Dammit, Rob! You totally cheated."

Robin snickered. He set his controller down and propped his legs on the coffee table. He was wearing black jeans and scuffed Converses, and when he tipped his head back to wave at her, Artemis saw the dark sunglasses perched on his nose. "One day you'll stop being a sore loser and just admit you suck at this game," he said to Wally.

"I won't admit to anything," Wally said stoutly. He rose from the couch with a loud yawn. "I'm going to check on M'gann's cookies. You want anything from the kitchen, Artemis?"

"Just water," she said, followed quickly by Robin's response of "Coke please!"

"No one asked you." Wally glared at him and then stormed away, leaving a gust of wind in his wake.

Robin grinned and then gestured for Artemis to sit next to him. She obliged, throwing herself onto the soft cushion. He had his phone in his hand already and was rapidly scrolling through the news, pausing only to read the headlines.

"Everything seems pretty calm here," she said. The living area was now empty except for the two of them. In the distance, she could hear M'gann's laughter. "Was there no briefing from Batman or any other member of the League?"

"I think Batman got too tired from yelling at me to do a briefing."

She blinked. "What?"

"He finally wrapped his head around the fact that I borrowed the Batwing." Robin glanced up from his phone and gave her a wry grin. "He didn't like it very much."

"Oh." Artemis felt her stomach sinking a little. She was mildly terrified of Batman on a normal basis; she couldn't imagine what it would feel like to get a scolding from him. "Are you in trouble then?"

"Nah. He just banned me from going on patrols for the rest of the week."

Out of all the punishments she was imagining, this didn't sound all that bad. And considering it was Thursday already, it just meant another three days of inactivity. "Could've been worse," she said.

He sighed and tipped his head back against the couch. "Maybe," he agreed, "but it also means I have a ton of time on my hands now."

Artemis thought about the English homework she had just finished and the math homework she hadn't started on yet and wondered whether Robin had the same problem. Sometimes it felt as if she was the only normal teenager on the team, with typical teenage woes that she felt were too petty to bring up because the world was on the brink of ending. These thoughts were particularly magnified when she was sitting next to Robin, who seemed to be the biggest non-teenager of them all. She couldn't imagine him having troubles with homework or girls or getting grounded because he got caught sneaking home late at night. Did he even go to school, for that matter?

Curiously enough, this was the same question she had mused over while they had been trying to rescue the students at Gotham Academy. She didn't think Robin would actually say anything—Batman would probably have an aneurism if he did—but she also didn't think it hurt to ask.

She figured she ought to start casually first. "A ton of time on your hands? Does this mean you have no homework to finish?"

"Nah, finished it already. Besides, there isn't a whole lot since Thanksgiving break is approaching."

Artemis secretly wondered if it'd be okay for her to pawn off her math homework to him. He was the Boy Wonder. Surely math would be second nature to him, right?

"That sounds nice. I'm pretty envious," she said. She paused, trying to phrase her next comment so her intentions were as discrete as possible. "I imagine you must go to a pretty nice high school, given how much money Batman seems to have at his disposal."

Robin shrugged, still engrossed in his phone. He was now skimming through an article about the true origin of Wi-Fi. Interesting. "It's not bad I suppose."

Now was her chance. "I'm assuming it's in Gotham? Otherwise it'd be such a pain for you to have to zeta beam to school every day."

He stopped scrolling. He was still looking at his phone, but she could feel him pause, feel the moment suspended in the air.

"Artemis," he finally said, gently but chiding, "nice try."

She felt herself flush, and turned to look at the TV, which currently featured two characters in fighting stances. They were bobbing up and down, both looking comically beefy. "Sorry I brought it up. I was just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

"Whatever."

She mentally berated herself for bringing this up, although a part of her still felt it was a little unfair that he knew everything about everyone else but no one was allowed to learn anything about him. Except for Wally, who likely knew his identity given how close they were. You couldn't form such a deep friendship with someone without knowing the most basic thing about who they were.

She picked up the controller Wally had tossed on the table. "Want to play?" She didn't much like the awkward silence. "I don't know how, but I can't possibly be worse than Baywatch at this."

Artemis waved the controller in front of his face, as if he couldn't see it, but he didn't seem to be paying any attention to it. Instead, his focus was on her, and for once, he looked completely serious. She couldn't read his expression, but it looked almost contemplative, as if he was calculating his next big move.

"Robin?"

"Do you want to go out?" he suddenly asked.

Artemis was completely thrown by the question. "Huh?"

He grinned. "Want to go out for dinner? I don't trust M'gann's cooking, and since I'm banned from patrolling, I pretty much have the rest of the night free. Come on, it'll be my treat."

"But why?" The question came out of her mouth before she could think, but thankfully Robin didn't seem to be insulted. In fact, he looked more tickled than anything.

"Why not?" He stood, his mind apparently already made, and offered his hand. "It'll be a fun night out. We have the zeta beam at our disposal. We can go anywhere we want."

Artemis eyed his proffered hand, half wondering if this was just a trap since Robin was entirely too fond of playing games. But the more rational part of her realized he was older now, more mature. He wasn't the bratty thirteen-year-old kid anymore. And so she took his hand with no small amount of trepidation, and found herself pulled onto her feet by a strong arm.

He was taller than her now, having hit his growth spurt, and she found herself looking up at him. His hair was always messy—probably from constantly traveling via grapple gun—and he always seemed to have very distinct Robin-style civvies. He was wearing a dark blue button-up shirt under a black zip-up hoodie, an interesting intersection of prep and casual.

He was on his phone again, scrolling through restaurant recommendations in the area. "What do you feel like eating?"

Artemis had never put that much thought into food, but something about Robin's excitement was rubbing off on her. She tried to recall all the restaurants she'd walk by in Gotham to determine what kind of cuisine she wanted, but unbidden, her thoughts strayed towards the lasagna she had seen Dick eat during lunch.

"Italian?" she suggested, before she fully understood why she had suggested it.

"Italian it is," Robin said easily. He pulled up the website of a fancy-looking Italian restaurant in Star City. The page boasted that it had received its first Michelin star several months back. "I've been here once with Batman and GA and it was amazing. Shall we pay a visit to your hometown?"

Artemis scowled and punched his arm, earning a loud snicker from him. "Ha, very funny, birdbrain. Everyone knows I'm not from Star City."

-X-

The moment they arrived at the restaurant, Artemis was certain they were way out of their league. The patrons were clearly far from earning minimum wage, and the ambiance of the restaurant just screamed upper class. Artemis suddenly felt very self-conscious in her jeans and sweater.

Robin, however, seemed to be taking it all in stride. He greeted the maître d' with a wide smile and took a seat casually at their table, not seeming perturbed at all by the fact that they were a couple of high school students dressed in sneakers and sweatshirts.

Artemis nearly balked when she saw the prices on the menu. "I think we should leave," she hissed, propping the menu up as a barrier between them and the couple at the next table. "Let's go somewhere cheaper. Dinner here costs more than my apartment's monthly rent."

Robin smirked. "That's definitely an exaggeration. Besides, this is my treat. Or rather, Batman's treat. If he can afford to have five extra cases of bat ears lying around, he can afford this dinner."

She decided not to ask about the bat ears and proceeded for the next few minutes to attempt to find the cheapest option on the menu. She ended up with linguini and clams, which wasn't necessarily the cheapest but appeared to be reasonably priced and was one of the few items she could understand. Everything else seemed to be in Italian. She was impressed when the waiter didn't seem to care whether or not they were just students, and didn't even bat an eye at Robin's sunglasses, which was out of place in the dim restaurant.

"You seem to be very comfortable with all this," she said to Robin, once the waiter had taken their orders. "Do you dine at fancy restaurants often?"

"Not often, but here and there, I suppose. Sometimes even Batman feels like fine dining after a particularly arduous day of dealing with Gotham's underground criminals."

Artemis tried to picture the caped crusader sitting in this establishment, full gear on, sipping a fancy pink cocktail. It made her giggle.

Robin grinned and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "So Arty, when was the last time you went on a date?"

She choked, mid-gulp on her sparkling water, and then spent the next few moments hacking it all up. She was red from embarrassment by the end of it, but Robin merely presented a napkin with a flourish and handed it to her with a widened grin.

"What the hell, Robin? Isn't that a little too personal?"

"That was the goal," he said without an ounce of regret. His grin was wicked. "You're always so closed off, even now. You make it really tough to get to know you."

She scowled. "It's not like you know nothing about me. And anything you don't know I'm sure you could just look up in your files somewhere."

"Does that bother you?"

It definitely wasn't very fun knowing he had access to all the secrets about her past and her family, but as far as Artemis was concerned, Robin hadn't used any of that information against her. The only time he had brought it up was when she had volunteered it to the team, and even then, he had only supported her.

"No," she found herself saying, "I guess it doesn't bother me. Just as long as you use that information for good."

He smiled and leaned back into his seat. "Oh believe me, I'm always good." When she merely rolled her eyes, he said, "And you still haven't answered my question."

Artemis sighed. She fiddled with the napkin on her lap. It wasn't as if she was embarrassed about her dating life, but she also didn't feel the urge to broadcast it. "I can't really remember the last time I went on a date. Probably never. My focus has never really been on dating."

Robin nodded gamely. "Too busy saving the world."

Their dishes arrived then, but Artemis was momentarily distracted by his comment. It was less of saving the world and more of making sure she wasn't pulled into all the family drama. She had completely given up on her father now, but her mother had retired and her sister wasn't as active as she used to be. A part of her had always felt alienated from the rest of the team because her family oftentimes contributed to the crimes they were fighting, but to their credit, no one had ever blamed her.

She absently twirled the linguini around her fork and took a bite. The world exploded in flavor, and she had to take a minute to process the richness of the pasta. Whatever the chef had done to it was heavenly, and she didn't think she had ever had such delicious Italian food before.

"Oh my god, this is amazing."

Robin was watching her with amusement. "Worth it, you think?"

"Definitely."

He laughed and dug into his own dish. The remainder of the dinner conversation flowed freely, and Robin didn't press her further regarding her dating life. He kept the topics light and regaled her with tales of some of the funnier excursions he had gone on with Batman. She was surprised to learn about all the exotic places he had been to as a result of being Batman's partner; their Biyala trip, as it turned out, was just the tip of the iceberg.

By the time their dishes were taken away, Artemis was feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time. She was pleasantly full and warm, and she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten such a delicious meal. And surprisingly, Robin had been a great conversationalist.

He snickered at the content expression on her face. "You look like a pig ready for slaughter."

"That was a weird way of putting it, but I do feel happy and fat," Artemis admitted.

"Oh how easily satisfied you are. We haven't even had dessert yet."

Her eyes widened. "Dessert?" As if on cue, the waiter returned with two slices of cheesecake. The slices were so fluffy that Artemis couldn't be sure whether she was eating cheesecake or a cloud. The experience was decidedly mind-blowing, and by the time Robin paid the bill, she was coming to the realization that the first time she had gone on something remarkably close to a date was with the Boy Wonder of all people.

It was a jarring realization.

She watched as Robin tucked a shiny black credit card into his wallet. He hadn't let her see the final bill—"Batman's treat, remember?"—but she was fairly certain it was an amount that would've had her mom chasing her around the house with a fly swatter.

He grinned when he caught her staring. "Are you ready to go or are you prepared for round two?"

She scowled and shoved out of her seat.

They made their way out of the restaurant and into the steadily cooling evening air. Artemis always thought Star City had a beautiful skyline, and given the city was next to a large body of water, she could occasionally get a whiff of the sea breeze. It was calming.

They were strolling down what appeared to be the heart of downtown. There were shops lit up on both sides, boasting discounts of various degrees given the proximity to the holidays. The zeta beam entrance was five blocks down from where they were now, which gave them plenty of time to window shop along the way. As Robin paused to examine the poster of a video game, Artemis mused thoughtfully that this was probably the most relaxed she had been in a long time.

Robin pulled himself away from the storefront. "I can't wait for that game to come out. Wally will be so distraught."

"Distraught? Why?"

He smirked. "Because he's going to get his ass handed to him."

Artemis laughed. "How are you so good at video games? I can't imagine you have much time on your hands considering you're always off with Batman on missions."

"What can I say, Arty? I'm just good at everything."

That earned him a punch on the shoulder. Robin faked a gasp of pain and stumbled, nearly crashing into a nearby patron of a gelato shop. Despite the cold weather, there were a surprising number of people waiting in line.

"Oh look, a new gelato shop." Robin had dropped his act and was perusing the menu now. "Mm pistachio. Want some gelato, Arty?"

The look he gave her was innocent enough, but it was precisely because of it that she was starting to get suspicious. They were certainly good enough friends, but not to the point where he should be offering her free dinners and desserts.

Her eyes narrowed. "All right, Birdbrain, 'fess up."

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you doing this?" She gestured towards the gelato store and then behind her in the direction of the restaurant they had just exited. "What favor are you asking for?"

The look of surprise faded from his face, to be replaced with a burgeoning mischievous look. The corner of his lips curled slightly. "What makes you think I'm asking for a favor?"

"Either that or you've done something bad and you're buttering me up before you tell me." Artemis placed her hands on her hips, realizing she probably looked like an angry mother. "So which one is it? You're not normally this nice."

Robin's grin widened. "Artemis, I'm shocked you don't think I have it in me to be nice, although that definitely was not my intention. 'Nice' is such a kiss of death."

He stepped away from the gelato shop and continued walking down the street, forcing Artemis to follow him. Sometimes she really hated conversations with Robin; he was such a slippery guy when he wanted to be, and his words generated more confusion than not.

"So are you not going to say anything?" she pressed.

He looked at her, his expression thoughtful. "What if I told you I had intended this trip to be an experience for you? For you to... sample the wares."

Artemis stopped and stared at him blankly. "Huh? Sample the what?"

He smiled at the look on her face. "Oh Arty, must I spell everything out for you?"

"Could you be more cryptic, Birdbrain?"

He blew out a light sigh and looked at the ground, suddenly seeming very bashful. "It's rare for us to get a night off, and you had looked so wound up earlier. I was hoping to use the night to treat you out and let you relax a little."

She blinked, feeling as if her head was still stuck in a massive haze. But she found herself nodding, and the functioning part of her registered that he had done a very sweet and considerate thing. "Err thank you?"

"You're welcome." Robin looked amused. "And I'll admit, I did have an ulterior motive as well."

That had her rolling her eyes. "Of course you did."

"You look like you enjoyed yourself tonight, which is probably the only reason I have enough guts to even continue this conversation right now." He tucked his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "I had hoped, that through tonight, you could get a small sample of what it might be like to spend time with me. In a solely non-superhero way."

She could feel her heart beating faster, and she barely stuttered out "It was fun."

"I'm glad." He was looking at her, and though she couldn't see his eyes, she could sense heaviness in his expression, as if he were preparing himself for another dangerous mission. The wind had picked up a little, and it sent his already messy hair into further disarray. A few strands fell into his eyes, which he brushed away distractedly.

"I'm not using my words very well at the moment, but I guess what I'm trying to say is… now that you know my intentions, would you think about the possibility of spending more time with me outside of superhero business?"

She was horribly confused. "Wait, are we still talking about your intentions to make me more relaxed? What does that have to do with spending more time with you outside of the team?"

He smiled. "I like you, Artemis."

As cliché as it sounded, the world seemed to freeze around her. She had always scoffed at all the romance novels she had had the misfortune of reading, where the girl was swooning, and all the butterflies and rainbows and sunshine seemed to make everything better. That had never been a part of Artemis' life, but here and now, in a chilly evening in Star City, she thought she could finally begin to understand what the novels had been trying to describe.

She wondered how they appeared to bystanders—a pair of teenagers frozen on the sidewalk. It probably would've made for a comical scene if only she hadn't been caught up in it.

Artemis finally got her mouth to work. "You… what? But how? I don't…"

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to say anything. In fact, I wasn't even planning on having this conversation right now, but as always, I seem to lose my wits every time I'm around you." Robin sounded as calm as always, which made it difficult for Artemis to imagine him losing his wits at any point in time. "Just when you get a spare moment on a patrol or something, think about it?"

She nodded slowly. "All… right."

His smile lit up his whole face. "Wonderful. Now let's zeta beam back before Wally gets in enough practice to beat me at the game."

Author's Note: Some good old-fashioned romance to kick off the week. :) Let me know what y'all think!