This just kinda hit me after watching the latest episode (major spoilers for Depths!). I don't really know where it came from, and it didn't really go the way I wanted it, but it's okay. I guess it could be seen as RobArt (is that still the name for Dick and Artemis?) but I was intending it to be more of a brother-sister thing. Thanks for reading!

As always, Nightwing was the first to arrive. You couldn't stop the baddies if they were gone before you got there, could you? Of course, Wally and Artemis weren't baddies, and Kaldur wasn't... technically one. Still, the principle was the same.

The warehouse was otherwise empty, the industrial lighting providing a dull portrait of large wooden crates and rusting machinery. For the first time in a long time, Nightwing found himself with time to think. He usually didn't have that luxury, usually had but milliseconds to react and rely solely on instinct. Dick had grown unused to time like this. He should be planning, or deciphering, or training, or something. But what else could he do but wait?

He'd already called Wally, who was supposedly on his way (but with Wally, 'on my way' could mean anything from 'almost there' to 'just now getting out of bed'), and had to hope that Kaldur would remember- it's not like Nightwing could contact the upcoming "supervillain" for a friendly chat without making a huge scene and ruining years of planning. Artemis was coming as well, probably hitching a ride with Wally.

Nightwing had to push away the scene playing in his mind over and over of the League and the Team in mourning, M'Gann's face streaked with tears. But Dick couldn't help but think: what if it was him on the other side? What if he was told that the girl he'd seen almost every day for years, in both school and hero uniform, really was dead? He was bombarded with more memories: almost drowning when the Reds had attacked the Cave, getting revenge on Wally by pranking him time and time again, surviving many a boring Wayne gala while he texted her about school (from Dick's phone) and the Team (from Robin's phone) under the table. But the most poignant was nothing but a bright camera flash.

With a start, Nightwing realized he still had the picture on his holo-computer. With a slight smirk, he pulled up a slightly out-of-focus picture of a teenage girl and a younger teenage boy. The girl looked disoriented and confused, her dark eyes like those of a doe. On the other hand, the boy was grinning like a madman, his blue eyes sparkling as if it was all a big inside joke, which, Nightwing supposed, it was.

It was only a few years ago, but both of them looked so... young. Had his ears really stuck out that much? No wonder he'd received so much teasing. Artemis's face showed none of the poised prowess it bore now. She definitely hadn't gotten traught yet.

Dick had always planned on telling her. He knew that Artemis had never truly made the connection, no matter how many times she'd told Dick Grayson that he 'reminded her of someone she knew'. But he'd never found the right time while the Team was together, and then Artemis and Wally had quit the hero business. Now, he barely saw either of them anymore.

"We'll laugh about this someday," Dick said to the empty room, still looking at the picture. He could only imagine her reaction as he confessed that her schoolmate, the one she'd always been so anxious about her secret with (though Dick constantly bringing up hero references couldn't have helped), was actually one of her Teammates all along? Would they actually laugh? He supposed they would after he received a huge tirade about not telling her. But what if they'd never had the chance? They sure as hell wouldn't if their plan failed.

Nightwing was jolted back to reality as he remembered why he was meeting up with three of his closest friends in the first place. The world was on the brink of disaster, heavy on the dis.

And Dick was never really one for personal goals, but he made a promise to himself, and to Artemis, and to the rest of the world he cared so much about. He would do whatever it took so someday, people could smile instead of cower in fear. And someday, he and Artemis would get their last laugh.

Okay I know it was kinda cheesy but I loved that scene in the episode! Anyway, I'm working on some more YJ fics, but I like Dick as Robin a lot better, so I most likely won't be writing a lot about him as Nightwing. Thanks for reading!