Artemis had been thinking for a while now that it had been time for a change, but this- Keystone City- was a bigger change from her beloved Gotham than she had been expecting. Gotham was all hustle and bustle and crime on every corner, this was Kansas.

She sighed, and picked up the last box on the curb and headed up the stairs to her new apartment building, which -compared to her old one in Gotham- was pretty nice. It had a large bedroom, with a closet big enough to store her chest full of bows and arrows and spare costumes. A kitchen with all the appliances and they even worked to her surprise as she clicked on the stove to heat up her tea kettle. She continued with her box to the living room where she deposited it on her green couch; Artemis retrieved her knife from where it was strapped to her ankle and tore into the box. At the top sat several frames photos of her and her mom, one from her high school graduation and one from her college graduation. Under that were the books that would sit on her last empty bookshelf on the opposite wall.

Artemis pulled out her phone and checked the time- 5:39- blinked up at her in white.

"Shit," she muttered as she ran back to the kitchen to kitchen to turn off the stove and grab the gym bag that sat on the floor next to the fridge where she'd dropped it when she came in the first time around. Her door slammed behind her as she exited the apartment and began running down the two flights of stairs and out of the building. The run to the gym was a short one, but her speed was hindered by the bag slapping against her side, she prayed that all of her gear was packed in there.

The gym was a large building with one side covered in floor to ceiling windows that looked in on the pool, the other side had small windows- most of which had the shades drawn. The front door was painted a dark blue, and one of the double doors was propped open. She slowed down as she entered the building, but failed to notice the tall ginger-haired gentleman who was standing inside the door. They fell to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs, her gym bag landing on his head.

Artemis lifted her head from where it lay on his chest and looked at him, her face scrunched and angry. "Wow asshole, who stands in front of a door?!"

"Who comes running into a building at top speed?" He retorted, his tone just as angry, and muffled by the bag. Artemis let out an angry huff and began extracting herself from him. The man however stayed on the ground, staring up at her as she righted herself. She had on an oversized green t-shirt splattered with white paint, a pair of white jean shorts, and a pair of old converse, but his eyes were focused on her face. Her face was tan, her eyes a stormy gray, tilted up at the ends, and blonde hair was cascading over her shoulders like blonde rain; she was beautiful. She stared down at him, anger evident on her face.

"Are you just going to lay there?"

"I'm quite fond of the view," he said, a smirk gracing his freckled face. Artemis let out another huff and left him there in search of the locker room, she pulled out her phone again- 5:52; she had eight minutes to get changed and find her class room. Awesome.

She changed quickly into a pair of shorts and tank-top, leaving the socks on her feet, and pulled her hair into a messy bun, and crossed the hall to the open classroom where five people were already waiting. Four of them were women ranging from teens, to more her age, and then there was the fifth person. The man from the hallway. She stands in the doorway for a moment glaring at the back of his head before walking in and positioning herself on the floor at the front of the room. She cleared her throat and the, now eight, people turned to look at her.

She patted the floor beside her, indicating that they should join her, and gave them a pointed look. "My name is Artemis, I will be your instructor, and this is intro to self defense. I will teach you how to defend yourself, or the well-being of another from harm. Today we will start with some basics techniques, can I have a volunteer?" The ginger man smirked and raised his hand. She sighed, but nodded. "Okay, if everyone could just back up to the edge of the mat," Artemis said as she rose to her feet once more. The others followed suit, and backed away, only the man remained at the center.

"I'm Wally," he said as he stuck out his hand to her. She shook it once and took a defensive stance, her feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, and her hands up protecting her face.

"Note my stance, my face is protected, my balance is centered." She looked over at Wally and gave him a sly smile, before continuing. "Knock me down." She ordered in her strong voice. He came at her with his fists raised, his arm shot out and she grabbed it, elbowed him in the face and swiped his feet from out from under him. He fell to the padded ground with a soft grunt.

Artemis smiled and placed her hands on her hips. "Now what did Wally do wrong?" She was about to call on the snickering tall raven haired boy when Wally grabbed her ankle and yanked her down to the mat. He straddled her in an instant, his body pressed against hers and his forearm pressed against her throat. She fumed under him; his face was inches from hers, a proud grin on his face.

Artemis lay there for a second assessing her situation, quickly she wrapped her legs up and around his waist and jabbed him in the ribs with her free hand. He relaxed his grip and she shifted their weight, rolling them so she was on top of him. She held his hands above his head and squeezed her thighs against his sides. She leaned down next to his ear, her breath hot, and uttered the four words: "I. Can. Kill. You." She then released him and jumped to her feet clapping her hands together.

"Alright then, pair up and take turns pretending to be the assailant. Be sure to keep yourself protected, and be prepared for anything," she shot a look at Wally who was still on his back on the ground staring up at the ceiling with a dazed expression on his face, "that they will throw at you. Now hop to it."

The raven haired boy padded over to Wally and knelt beside him. A wide grin was spreading over his handsome face.

"Not a word Dick," he muttered as he grabbed his outstretched hand and rose to his feet. He rubbed the back of his neck as he watched Artemis give pointers to two women on the other side of the room. "She's something."

"Yeah, something that just wiped the floor with you."

"I was going easy on her!" He whined pushing at Dick's shoulder

"So you going to go easy on Prank or Blacksmith next time they start raising hell?" Dick whispered, still grinning from ear to ear.

"That's different and you know it. They're villains and she's-"

"What? Beautiful? Strong? Sexy?" They circled each other with their fists raised at the ready.

"Well yes, but I was simply going to go with 'not-evil'."

"You never know man, she could be the next big bady." They both looked over at helping up a woman who looked a little younger than her, both of them laughing. Dick took the distraction to reach out and punch him in the gut, and kick his feet from under him. He landed with an 'oof' and glared up at his friend.

Artemis glanced their way to see Wally on his back again and let out a soft laugh. She walked across the room to them and smiled down at him.

"So are you just terrible at self defense or do you just enjoy spending time on the floor?" Dick laughed and stuck his hand out to her.

"I'm Dick, and as his best friend I can assure you that he just enjoys spending time on the floor." Artemis shook his hand and glanced back down at Wally.

"I thought as much," she reached out her hand to him, which he took begrudgingly, and helped him back to his feet. "So is this your guys first class, or did you study under the last guy as well?"

"Roy," Wally mumbled,looking down at the blue mat.

"What?"

"Roy, the old teacher, he was a friend of ours," explained Dick

"Yeah, I know him; he's my sister's fiancé. That's how I got wrangled into this job. I just moved here so I agreed to take over for him."

"Have you seen much of Keystone yet?" Wally asked, rubbing at the back of his neck again nervously.

"I just finished moving in today, although I have been acquainted with the Chinese place already."

"Maybe Wally could how you around sometime." Artemis looked over at him, staring into his green eyes and smiled; her smile however, slowly faded when she heard the beeping sound of her communicator going off in her duffle bag. She hurried over to it and pulled it out, scanning the screen quickly.

"Alright class, everyone did great today! I'll see you next week." She grabbed her bag quickly and looked back over her shoulder at Wally and Dick when she reached the door. "I have to go now, but thank you." And then she was gone running through the hall hurriedly.

"She's a little odd." Wally smiled at his friend and nodded as he pulled on his right shoe. He reached into his left shoe and pulled out his own communicator and looked at the little screen; 'S.O.S. KEYSTONE BANK' shown up at him in angry red letters.

"Shit man, I got to go." Wally whispered harshly.

"Need any help?"

"I'll keep you posted," and then he jogged out of the classroom and out the back door of the gym.