A/N

Thank all y'all for the awesome support :) and, as requested, here's chapter 3!

BTW I'm gonna be MIA for the next week, so I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can! Sorry for the mistakes in this chapter and some of the half-developed things, I kinda plowed through this one because I still have hw and need to pack...

Summary: Artemis takes Kaldur's place as good-guy-gone-bad when Cheshire dies at the hands of the Justice League. She 'kills' Nightwing, and obtains a new partner going by the name of Renegade. The pressure to find the lights new partner is on, and so much time alone makes the two heroes notice a little something...TRAUGHT!

Disclaimer: ain't none of this mine.

Chapter 3

The past and an icicle

The funeral was a quiet affair. There were a few of Paula and Artemis's friends, League members, and even less of Jade's. Lawrence Crock had even shown up to mourn his first-born daughter. Roy Harper, Jade's husband, was sobbing roughly and gripping Oliver Queens arm, the other clutching his newly found daughter to his chest; Oliver was even letting out a few tears of his own as he tried to sooth his almost-son.

Dick hadn't been invited, which had stung more than he'd like to admit. Nonetheless, he was crouched in the trees in full Nightwing-ensemble, head bowed and his mask taken off to honor the women who had been a friend, despite the sides they were on.

Artemis let out a chocked sob as the mahogany coffin was lowered into the ground, clutching her mother with desperation. Tears slid down Dick's face (was this not the same as his parents own funeral so long ago?) and he gripped the branch tightly, doing his best not to crush the small bouquet of roses held in his other hand.

Every person paid their respects, and there was soon a small mound of roses scattered about the stone pillar in the ground. Dick didn't know how long he had sat crouched on the tree branch, but he really didn't care. Roy and Artemis hugged each other and Paula whispered something to her daughters resting place.

Finally, glancing one last time at the grave, Artemis turned away and left. Dick watched her go, then jumped down from the branch and walked to her grave. Three, two, one. He was there. Staring down at the small lettering, Dick felt slightly out of place in his hero uniform-almost like he was betraying her.

"I'm sorry," the roses gently tapped the ground, snuggling up to the concrete block.

And then Nightwing was gone, the swishing of September leaves the only thing left in the silent grave yard.

"Robin, you and Delta have a mission," Nightwing announced to the heroes, pulling up schematics and Robin nodded, the same details popping up on his holo-computer.

Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, and Impulse sped over, but L'gann was nowhere in sight.

Nightwing frowned, glancing over the assembled group, "Where's Lagoon boy?"

Beast Boy snorted, lips turning down at the corners and arms crossed as he replied, "On a date with M'gann. She said they haven't been getting enough 'alone time'," he finished, fingers curled in air quotes for emphasis.

"I need to have a talk to the two of them about not informing me of their plans ahead of time," Nightwing muttered to himself, Robin nodding his head in agreement.

"I'll come instead," a gruff voice rumbled and Superboy walked into the Cave, the Zeta announcing his arrival. Nightwing nodded, giving a slight smile to the clone, who inclined his head in return.

Composing himself, the leader turned back to the Team members, pulling up a screen. Blue Beetles eyebrows shot up as he stared at the woman and Beast Boy snorted, rolling his eyes with a huff. Conner raised an eyebrow. Only Robin took her seriously, lenses narrowing as he glared at the figure in the picture, already remembering her icy cold eyes and love of icicles-their last encounter hadn't been fun, to say the least.

"This is Killer Frost; she escaped Belle Reve two night ago and was spotted exactly three and a half hours ago entering an abandon nuclear plant in southern Japan. The three of you are to follow her and see if she's got a contact she's working for, or if it's simply for pleasure. Do not engage, no matter what the circumstances are. She is dangerous and does not care for human life-Robin has already had several close encounters, so listen to him. Con-Superboy will be leading this mission, and I expect that you all follow his orders. Is that understood?"

The four members nodded, Beast Boy and Blue Beetle looking more giddy than the other two. "Perfect. Good luck, Delta."

Artemis stared aimlessly out the muggy window of the seedy diner she sat in. The seat was ripped and grated harshly against her arms, but she didn't notice the pain. The sky was black and rain was coming down softly, pattering against the rusty steel roof. In front of her sat a cup of coffee, untouched, having cooled several hours ago when she first ordered it.

Sighing, she leaned her head against the crumby table, her hair still tied up in the fancy bun from the funeral. Not really caring, Artemis reached up and yanked it out, letting the waves of yellow hide her from the ugly world beyond. A sniff escaped her, despite her best effort, and tears started to well up, once again. Angrily she pounded her fist against the table, burying her face in the crook her arm. (Crook, Crock. Was there even a difference any more?)

Chest heaving, Artemis bit her lip, swallowing the pain; she was not in the mood to cry again. She'd cried more today then her entire life combined. It wasn't a good feeling.

Sighing, Artemis finally fished her phone out of her pocket, having put it off for so long, the vibrations becoming a second skin. Glancing at the screen, she started upon seeing the glowing green name. Dick Grayson. Now there was somebody she hadn't talked to in a while; he probably didn't even know aha was going on. Maybe that's why she answered her phone.

Or maybe it was because they used to be friends. And that he was cute. But more that they used to be friends.

"Dick?"

"Artemis?"

"Been a while, Grayson. What's up?" Artemis leaned back against the torn cushions and closed her eyes, imagining that he was sitting right beside her, back in their old Gotham Academy days.

"Nothing, its just...its been a while. I know we haven't really talked, at all, but would you like to come over to Gotham? Heard you were living-"

"Sure! That, that would be great! See you then, freshmen!"

"I'm not a-"

Artemis ended the call, smirking at his last words. He sounded just like he used to, all those years ago.

And maybe that's why she agreed to go see him in Gotham (it had been what, two years?). Shoving the screen doors open and hopping on her motorcycle while whipping on her helmet, Artemis knew that at least it would be a distraction.

The four of them had been flying in Sphere for almost two hours, and Conner was bored. Reaaaaaaally bored. Blue and Beast Boy were already chattering away, so Conner turned to the only other accomplice on the trip, who was currently engaged by a series of reports flashing across his Holoscreen (Conner had worked with Nightwing too long to not know what it was).

"So," Conner said suddenly, making the Boy Wonder jump at the sudden noise. "I heard you and Batman put Joker and his gang back in Arkam last week. Pretty impressive. What was it, Joker, Harley, Ivy-"

"-Scarecrow, Two-Face, Riddler, and Penguin. Total of 58 hours, plus the rest of the Bats coming to help every so often. These prison breaks are so often nowadays, I'm not even sure why I get surprised anymore," Robin finished with a sigh, cheeks flushing from Superboy's compliment (Batman was pretty sparse with those).

Conner whistled, staring at the new Robin with respect. "I didn't think that was humanly possible! Dude, what exactly do they feed you?"

"Thanks Kon!" Robin hacked up, still gasping for air as the super strengthened boy wrapped an arm around him to keep him from falling off as he jumped them away from the explosion, Killer Frost's limp body dangling from his other hand.

"Kon?" Conner asked, amused and somewhat flattered from the nickname.

Robin shrugged, cheeks growing warm as he defended himself. "That's your name, isn't it? Your Kryptonian name, anyway, so why shouldn't I use it?"

Kon held up the hand barely holding onto Killer Frost, "I'm not complaining, just wondering. It's a nice name, I like it."

"DUDES!" a voice yelled up at them, a sonic boom and buzzing announcing the arrival of their other two teammates. Robin glanced down, wincing as the gusty air harshly caressed his cut face.

Below them, Impulse was running, dodging the dense wildlife and clutching his arm close to his chest. Probably broken, Robin noted. Beside them flew Blue Beetle, his armor randomly sparking from damage due to the explosion.

A beep from his comm made Robin look down, his eyes scanning the text from Nightwing, the corners of his mouth briefly uplifting. "Nightwing says Captain Atom is on the way to collect the nuclear energy, so there should hopefully be no fallout."

"That's so craaaa-AAAAAHH!" Impulse ran strait into a tree, smacking his head against the trunk and flying backwards to the ground. Superboy quickly turned back and Bluebeetle landed besides them, all rushing to check on their teammate. Below them Bart groaned, giving them a thumbs up.

"So, Ms. Snow, would you like to tell me what your sudden motivation was for attacking this specific power plant?" Nightwing asked, an eyebrow raised as he sat across from the leering villainess, hands folded before him on the concrete table.

"Now why would you want to hear about such an uninteresting endeavor?" Killer Frost purred, leaning forward to better look into Nightwing's white eye lenses, "there are so many more productive things to be doing 'round here-and crimes are such a downer on a conversation with such a handsome man."

Nightwing's body remained immobile, his eyes boring into her before she let out of a puff of air, leaning back with a pout. "You're so boring; honestly honey, even I'm not that cold on the inside."

Dick bristled internally, but Nightwing remained cool and calm, simply pressing a button on his wrist guard. Killer Frost rose an eyebrow as Robin calmly walked in, handing a folder to Nightwing before leaving just as quickly, making the women feel as if she'd imagined it. But the folder in Nightwing's clutch had definitely not been there before. Her eyes glittered curiously as he tossed the Manila folder across the table to her and she picked it up, leafing through the articles and reports stuffed inside.

Finally, she gave up, dropping the folder back on the table and gazing at the dark hero with curiosity. "Well, what's this supposed to do? I think I would remember being at my own crimes."

"I would hope you would-otherwise, we'd have an entirely different problem on our hands," Nightwing muttered, turning to look at the ice queen. "Anyways, all these attacks, most recently in these past two months, have been much to complicated for one person to devise, perhaps not even a group. I know you're working for the Light-and I want to know how they've gotten so advanced these last few months."

Killer Frost leaned her head back and cackled, a sort of nervous and hysterical mix that made Nightwing tense up. She laughed manically, her body shaking before she suddenly lunged forward, eyes wide and pupils narrowed in fear as she grabbed the lapels of Nightwing's uniform. "You think you can stop them; no, we can only work for them now, lest we be killed-hahaha, killed, like Killer Frost-!"

"What do you mean," Nightwing growled, dislodging the villainess and shoving her back to her side of the interrogation room.

"What does it mean-what could it not?" She suddenly snapped, her body quivering in fear. "It's everything, it's you, it's me, it's the presidents secretary, the janitor at Wayne Enterprises-they will control everyone."

"Who?" Nightwing demanded, clenching his fists in an effort not to strangle the deranged villainess.

Killer Frost's body slumped forward, hair falling in her face as she slowly raised her head, whispering the words Nightwing had been dreading, "The Light's new partner."

A/N

Tadaaaa! Sooo, y'all like the big reveal? Dunno where Tim and Conner came from...anywho, read and review!

Kisses!

Alyss