Artemis was now fully and whole-heartedly convinced that the Boy Wonder, partner to the Dark Knight, went to her school. It was the little things that he would say that would make her suspicious, but after yesterday when she heard him complain about an English final with KF and mentioning an English teacher whose name sounded suspiciously like Mr. Rand, she was completely convinced.

This is how she found herself sitting on the open grass underneath a statue of a man, who was way too young and too alive to have a statue of his own, watching for people who she could categorically say looked like Robin. Of course, knowing the Bats as well as she does, which isn't saying much since she knows barely anything about them, Robin might just look completely different as a civilian and act different, so she's not entirely sure limiting her search parameters to small-ish, young-ish, black-haired teenage boys is the best thing to do. But if she doesn't limit it there at least as a starting point, then she'll never, ever stand a chance. Of course, the search for Robin in the school, also considerably narrows down the men who could be Batman, there's only a finite number of men who have sons that go here to this school and while any one of them can be Batman, she could limit her search for Robin by looking at how many boys' fathers had the potential to be Batman.

"How's it going?" The voice to her left causes her jump. She hadn't even heard anyone approaching, but then again, the entirety of her focus has been on students in front of her, walking and talking. She turns her head to look at the owner of the youthful voice and wants to tell him to go away, when her eyes narrow upon recognition of the boy in front of her.

"I know you." Artemis says.

"Probably." His voice is so nonchalant, it's almost infuriating, "Everyone knows of me."

"No, you're that freshman that took that weird picture with me on the first day." Her voice is accusatory. She hates pictures of herself, only consenting to them when they're absolutely necessary and she's had enough preparation time, but this kid didn't care, he just took a picture and then muttered something sarcastic before slinking away. Seeing her now only serves to bring back that frustration she felt.

"Yep." He grins, "That was me."

His white teeth are blinding, they're so perfect. She's about to say something hurtful and dismiss him, when she looks again. Short black hair, the right size…hmm…I wonder who his father is, she muses.

He shifts from one foot to the other, and she watches as he seems to lose some of his demeaner, the more she stares as though he's getting…nervous?

"You look like you're searching for someone. Need any help?" He asks, his nervousness or whatever it was is gone now. His voice suddenly sounds infuriating and has a tinge of humor in it now.

"I'm just looking for someone I'm in a club with, I'm sure that he goes here." Artemis explains. She has no clue why she's even talking to this kid. In fact, now that she looks at him, she's certain that she can cross him off the list. He's too scrawny to be a real consideration.

"Oh?" Again, with that tone only this time it's stronger as though he's hinting that he knows something she doesn't. She just met the kid, doesn't even know his name and he's already teasing her like she's known him for a while.

"Yeah, oh. Anyways, I'm in the middle of my investigation so do you mind?"

"No, I don't mind." He doesn't move.

She resolves not to let that fact bother her. This is a courtyard, anyone can stand or sit wherever they want, even so close to her. Very close to her. She forces her mind to stray away from thoughts about the boy next to her. The very annoying boy next to her who keeps snickering and laughing, and snickering and laughing—

"Will you cut that out!" She all but screams.

The boy turns to her with a much more mischievous smile than he had before as though he knew what he was doing was purposefully annoying her. Oh, if only she was in costume right now. She'd give the boy a fright of his rich-pretty boy life. The boy probably hadn't had to lift a finger if his expensive clothes are anything to go by. He looks like he's lived in luxury, probably does. Very few students at this school are on scholarship.

"Sorry, I just enjoy laughing at this thing." He jerks a casual thumb the statue's way.

She looks briefly at the statue of the too young, too alive Bruce Wayne. He has given enough money to the school that he deserves something, but this? A statue's reserved for the dead.

"What about it?" She asks.

"Oh, nothing. I just enjoy coming out here for a good laugh because…I'll let you in on a secret." He gets close to her ear so he can whisper, almost conspiratorially, "Bruce hates it. He secretly hates this statue. It makes him feel old."

Artemis can't really disagree with that. She, herself, was starting to think of the man as being too young for one, this statue is violating the laws of nature…okay, maybe a little dramatic, but at least she's not the only one who's thinking what she's thinking. To hear that the person the statue's modeled after agrees with her, only furthers her resolve.

Then another thought comes to mind, and she frowns. How would this kid know about Bruce Wayne at all? How would he know anything about the man? She knows about him, just because he personally gave her a symbolic check for the Wayne Foundation Scholarship she received to attend this school. Oliver has still not come forward to explain to her how exactly he got that to happen, but anyways, she figures one thing at a time. She also knows of him because along with Oliver, apparently Bruce Wayne donates a ton to the league, so she hears his name come up every now and again.

The boy just smiles, that annoying, knowing smile. What is his name anyways? What kind of person just strikes up a conversation and doesn't introduce themselves? She groans, again. Why does she even care?

"Dick Grayson." He says automatically, causing her to turn. Now, that name does sound familiar. She gives him another assessing look. Who is he?

"Who are you?" She frowns, at the choice of words and then decides to add, "I feel like you're very familiar, beyond the weird selfie thing on the first day of school, I mean."

He seems to frown at her in response, and then just shrugs, "I'm Dick Grayson, the ward to Bruce Wayne."

"I thought you knew me by my rugged good looks, but when you're thinking your emotions are all over your face, so…" He just shrugs as though that's the end of it.

She should really be more careful about that, she thinks. She doesn't need this random freshman figuring everything out about her.

"So, your friends with a guy in some club and you know nothing about him? I don't think that makes you friends." His voice seems uncertain at that statement.

"We are, it's just it's a club where we use codenames and we have to guess who each other is, and well, this guy, he's pretty secretive."

"Oh, okay, then." He seems to lighten up at that and even takes a seat next to her in the shade provided by the statue, "I'll help you then, we can be detectives." He announces.

Now, Artemis is really confused, this is the son of Bruce Wayne…Bruce freaking Wayne. Surely, he knows she's not from money. Turning to him, she frowns, "Why would you help me?"

He shrugs, his grin momentarily disappearing from his face, "You're nice and you actually talk to me."

She turns to him, her full attention on Dick, "You're Bruce Wayne's son, everyone should be clambering to hang out with you."

"I'm not his son." He says quickly, before recovering some of his personality, "I'm his ward. I'm formerly a Flying Grayson of Haley's Circus, my parents died in front of me and Bruce he felt somewhat connected to me and took me in. He gave me a home. He's the closest thing I have to a father, but he's still technically my father. Still, that doesn't matter to anyone here. I went from zero to a billion over night, practically. Students here that come from rich families, think that I'm below them because of that, and students like you who are on scholarship think I'm a rich snob, since my pseudo-father is in the ranking for the richest men in the world. It's a complicated situation, but…" That glint comes back in his eyes, "I get to troll people for it."

She somehow rolls her eyes at hearing that, but then sobers up to what he just told her. He confided in her and he barely knows her, "Well, then I guess you and I…" Gosh, she's going to regret this, and at the brightness daring itself to show in Dick's startlingly blue eyes, she decides that her resolve is gone, "I mean…we can be friends."

"Wow! Really, thanks." It sounds so genuine, from his lips. She feels bad, but for what, she's not too sure. She just somehow thinks she should have done this sooner. She is a heroine after all. She was even an outcast of Young Justice until M'gan, Robin, and partially Kaldur helped her feel more at home. Robin was the most welcoming of the bunch, but still she knows what it's like to feel left out and alone, at least she can pay it forward to this kid.

"So, you still hunting for your friend?" He asks.

"No, I think class is close to starting, so I better get to class and resume this tomorrow." She says, standing up.

Dick nods and after a beat stands up himself, straightening out his uniform jacket and pants, "Well, this time tomorrow, we can always resume the hunt."

She smiles despite herself. She nods in agreement and Dick walks off to his after-lunch class. Somehow Artemis is glad that she met him and even made him a friend. It feels good to be able to do something nice to someone as a civilian, letting her know that being a hero doesn't just end with removing the mask, that it's who she is. It also lets her know that Batman's faith in her isn't misplaced. Yes, she may be no closer to figuring out the League's best kept secret, but she helped someone and that can assuage her curiosity enough to last her through the day. As an added bonus, she also has an unwitting partner in crime and even helped out Dick Grayson and by extension Bruce Wayne, which is very cool, especially since Bruce Wayne is paying her tuition here to this school, even if it is through the Wayne Foundation.

"Artemis, you coming to class?" Bette's voice calls out over the nearly emptied courtyard.

"Coming!" She shouts back. She looks up and Bette's waiting for her.

Walking into the building after being inside in the bright sun causes her to stop. It seems so dark in the building for a second. Finally, when her eyes readjust she looks to her right and sees that Bette was just recovering as well. They walk start walking down the hall to their French class, when she hears something that causes her to stop.

"Artemis, come on. You know what Mr. Meaux will do if you're late again." She urges.

"I won't be late, just give me a second, I still have two minutes and I need to use the bathroom." She says and ignoring Bette's half-hearted pleas she backtracks to the hallway she passed getting to class.

After hearing no more protests, she briefly turns her head and sees that Bette has already left her. Muttering under her breath she rolls her eyes, and continues to the other hallway. What she saw, made her blood boil. She hates bullies, always had. Seeing these punk-ass, bigger kids picking on one, smaller, scrawnier kid made her even angrier. Three against one, since when does that make sense. Stepping closer she watches as they push him back into the lockers and it's then that she sees his face despite his arms being up to defend it. Dick Grayson.

Before they can land another punch randomly on her newfound friend, "Hey!" She calls out to them as she sees the hand rearing back for another go.

The biggest one of the group turns to look at her, "What do you want?"

"I just think that you should pick on someone your own size, that's all." She says, trying to fill her voice with as much loathing as she can.

It doesn't faze them. Somehow, she isn't surprised. "Wat's it matter to you?"

"I just don't like seeing an uneven fight like this. You're three against one. It's cowardice." Okay, perhaps that last part should have been a thought, and not a statement said as clearly and loudly as it was, but there's no going back now. Inwardly, she kinda wishes she could when she sees the looks of pure hatred fill the eyes of the three boys as they turn simultaneously to look at her.

"I'll give you one chance to apologize and walk away." The guy says.

She shakes her head, "No, I won't. I can't let you beat up my friend."

"Your friend?" He mocks.

She raises her chin, all the while her mind is inwardly chanting what an idiot she is. She'd grimace, but she's in too deep now to back down, "Yes, my friend."

"Oh, so I guess you wouldn't like it if I did this?" The punch that lands on Dick somehow causes her to snap and she screams in fury as she punches the biggest one in the nose. The boy falls to the ground and Dick looks at her with an unreadable expression. The other two are just dumbstruck as they help their friend to his feet.

Their eyes meet, and Artemis reads the thank you written in his expression and nods, but then his expression turns worrisome and it only takes seconds for Artemis to realize why.

"Miss Crock!" Oh, no. Mr. Meaux. Damn it, Bette.

She slowly turns to face the red-faced teacher, her eyes silently pleading, but no such luck.

"Principal's office. Now!"

Her feet move slowly in the direction of the office, vaguely hearing Dick's protests, and that the teacher sent the three bullies in the same direction.

Sitting in one of the chairs just outside the principal's office, she shifts in her seat as the glares from the three boys starts to get to her. Dick insisted he should be the first to go in, in fact, he insisted that he should be there in the first place, since he didn't have to be.

Her sitting there is when her mom comes wheeling up to her. She turns her head to look at her, when she hears her mom's voice.

"Artemis, are you okay?" She asks.

Nodding, "Yeah, I just…I'm sorry, Mom."

Her mom sighs and just nods, "I am proud of what you did, Artemis."

Artemis gives a small smile. Her mom must've heard the full story, not just that she punched a kid unprovoked. She spares the bullies across from her no glance as she opens her mouth to reply to her mother—

The door to the receptionist's office opens, or rather slams open and everyone in the room jumps. Even the receptionist's cries of outrage dies on her perfectly glossed lips, as she sees who it is. The bullies even have the good-wherewithal to look anywhere but at the big man taking up the entire doorway as he sends a merciless but brief glare their way.

She is so, very, very glad, that glare is not directed at her.

"Stacy, what the hell was that?" The principal walks out of his office, a bruised Dick Grayson peaking out form over the side.

Stacy's unresponsiveness causes the man to look over to the doorway and he too grows pale. "Mr. Wayne." He barely gets out before said man walks past him, forcing the principal to get out of the way before he's barreled over.

"A word now!" His voice shouts, deep and commanding.

In all her time at Gotham and at Gotham Academy, she's heard rumors of Mr. Wayne, from being an intimidating businessman to being a caring father to being something less than okay with Dick Grayson and then the last and most prominent being an idiot, bubblehead, with only a signature being the reason he has money. Having just saw what she just did, she now knows that last one is in no way accurate. The man was huge, she's never seen him in person before.

A delicate hand wraps around the door to keep it from closing and quietly pushes it open.

Everyone is startled speechless. With sunglasses atop her head, her long and thick black hair pulled back in a braid, and her stature being as regal as she's ever seen her and wearing a nice blue pantsuit, Diana, freaking Princess Diana, Wonder Woman of the Justice League stands in the doorway now. Looking to a star-struck Stacy, she asks, "Did he go in there?" She asks, pointing a manicured finger to the principal's door which is now shut.

Stacy just nods, swallowing.

Wonder Woman smiles, "Thank you."

She walks over to the seats next to her and her mother, and she must've been speaking because her mouth is moving.

"Mind if I sit here?" Her mother is first to recover.

"Yes, yes, by all means." Her mother starts to wheel backwards.

Diana just shakes her head, "You don't need to move. I can sit here just fine."

Her mother nods and her hands still poised over the wheels she just sits frozen.

Diana sits and folds her hand neatly in her lap before turning to the boys across from her, all of which are practically drooling. "You know." Wonder Woman's voice is slightly less light, but her expression isn't entirely serious, "Bullying is never okay."

The boys just gulp audibly and nod. Sparing them no more attention, Wonder Woman readjusts herself so she's facing more to the side, toward Artemis and her mother. "I must thank you. I heard about your heroics."

She's not entirely sure if Wonder Woman knows who she is.

"Why are you here?" Artemis blurts out. She can practically feel her mother's heated gaze landing on her, at hearing that blunt and somewhat rude question. She refuses to look over to her mother.

"Oh, it's no problem," Diana laughs, "Bruce and I were actually on our way to have lunch when we heard the call, he came straight here and I guess I just tagged along for the ride."

So, the rumors were true. Wonder Woman and Bruce Wayne did have a thing. Nothing is ever said about it and the media can barely get more than a whisper about them being together, but the tabloids have been parading each whisper around like it's fact. It must be.

Before anyone can ask anything about the nature of their relationship. Bruce and Dick followed by a downtrodden principal shuffle out of the office. "When your parents get here we'll discuss some things." He says turning to the three boys.

It's when the principal turns to go back into his office that he sees what everyone is staring at, or rather who everyone is staring at. "Um…" He mutters.

"Diana Prince, most people know me by Wonder Woman." She holds out her hand, introducing herself as Bruce fusses over Dick Grayson, assessing his injuries.

"We're going." Bruce says after a moment, his voice giving no room for argument.

Wonder Woman gives a half-hearted glare his way, before he turns to look at the principal, or rather glares at the man.

The man swallows again and turns to Artemis, "Miss Crock, you're being let off with a warning since your intent was altruistic."

She doesn't even know if the boys heard that because she's certain that if they had, the room would be filled with protestations. Her mother's eyes nearly fill with tears as she hastily wheels forward to announce her gratitude to whoever it was that allowed her daughter to have another chance.

The principal shakes her hand and explains that Artemis should never do this again or else there will be a punishment. Artemis and her mother just thank the man again and it's only when they're nearly out the door do they hear the three boy's start to protest. Artemis grins despite herself at their misfortune.

"Bruce, I'm fine." Dick's voice causes both women to look down the hall once the door is shut behind them, effectively cutting off their cries of outrage.

"He'll make an effective warrior one day." Wonder Woman's regal voice states.

Artemis and her mother can only stare at the scene. The billionaire with one knee on the ground while wearing a very expensive suit, that makes her sick just trying to think of the price, and the pantsuit wearing heroine placing a hand on the man's shoulder.

"I…I wanted to thank you." Her mother wheels forward, causing all eyes to go to her, as the billionaire stands.

"You're welcome. Anyone who defends someone shouldn't be punished. Mr. Westley was easy enough to persuade." Mr. Wayne lets a sarcastic smile grace his lips.

"Anyone who defends an innocent isn't worthy of punishment." Wonder Woman says, offering her hand.

"Wonder Woman, I…er…"

"Please, Diana is fine." She says.

"Well, Diana, thank you."

"Mr. Wayne—"

"Bruce as well, please." He offers his hand to the older woman.

The woman shakes both hands with reverence and when she pulls her hand away after she's done she just lays it on top of her lap. Artemis idly notes that it's palm up.

"Well, Bruce, Diana, I err… don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything. Helping you and your daughter was the least we could do." Diana just smiles.

"…"

"Say, Bruce and I were going to take Dick out of school for the day and go on that lunch we were going to go on earlier, do you want to come with us?"

"...uh..."

A/N: okay, so this is the end, or at least I think so. May continue with it if enough people think I should. I'm not entirely sure where to go from here. Hopefully, this was good and no one was too, OOC. Feedback is always appreciative and reviews are love. Please let me know if you think I should continue on with this or if you think it was crap. I'm open to hearing whatever you guys think about this, good and bad. Also, on an added note, since you've read this far, please don't forget to check out my book on amazon. The Valentine Chronicles: Renatus. You can read the synopsis below:

In a future world, divided into just 4 countries, Markus Valentine becomes the new, 18-year-old Emperor of Eurasia, following the death of his father.

Arena fighting is the main sport and a newly rising star is Fane. He believes that arena fighting should be to the death, but the law forbids murder and those found guilty are sentenced to death.

This is the fate of Cornelius Johnston, a man who murdered his fiancée at the behest of his father, and whose life will become inextricably entwined with that of the new Emperor.

When Fane kills another man in the Arena, he is pardoned by Markus, much to the dismay of the crowd. But the new favourite and the young Emperor are soon on a collision course as both men fall in love with the alluring Rosalyn.

But after Fane and Rosalyn marry, Markus becomes jealous. He kills her family and takes her for his own, intent that she will provide him with a son and heir.

Exiled and alone, Fane meets Amaranta and they have two children together. But the memory of what Markus Valentine did still cuts deep and he is determined to exact vengeance on him.

Will a gladiator have his revenge on an Emperor? And will a murderer be pardoned against the laws of the country?