Black Canary stared across the room at the two very bored looking teens. Wally sat with his legs hanging over the arm of the chair as he shoveled chips into his mouth. Artemis's arms found their usual position across her chest as she watched Wally with disgust.

"So," Dinah began. "Who wants to start?"

"I thought these were going to be individual sessions," Artemis said as she turned her eyes away from Wally. "What's with Kid Mouth?"

Wally mumbled something in agreement that was completely indistinguishable with his mouth still filled with food. The two women regarded him before Canary turned to look at Artemis.

"What did he say?"

"Something about he thought this was going to be your special alone time."

Wally finally swallowed with an audible gulp. "Thanks for the translation, babe."

"Don't call me that." She didn't turn her head, instead shaking it in frustration. "Why do we even have to do this?"

"We need some sort of starting point to gage your progress. I don't expect you to become best friends, but if we can prevent any future arguments such as this one, that's all we need. So, how did this all start?"

"He called a bitch." Artemis grabbed the bag of chips out of Wally's lap and stuffed a handful in her own mouth. He gaped at theft and quickly took his bag back, but not before distracting her with a gentle yank on her ponytail.

"You said that I was a garbage disposal!"

Artemis tried to retaliate, but he kept dodging, chuckling at her every missed slap. "You are a garbage disposal!"

Black Canary watched on in silence. The two bickered like school kids in puppy love, which was inevitably their problem. Still, they had to start somewhere. "Ok, ok. Now why did that upset you, Artemis?"

"He said "my bitchiness" was why Green Arrow didn't want to "babysit" me. Then he started going on about people hating me? I don't know," she replied using air quotes.

Dinah tried not to shoot Wally an accusatory look. That made much more sense than a high school crush. "Wally, why don't you go outside, and I'll start the private sessions with Artemis."

"Looks like another date was stolen right out from under you," Artemis taunted as he made his way to the door.

"I regret telling you that."

The two girls chuckled as he walked out the door. Black Canary turned to Artemis with a smile on her face. She just hoped she hadn't bitten off more than she could chew.

"So seriously. What did you do?" Robin's voice came out of seemingly nowhere causing Wally to jump. He looked down to find a familiar set of sunglasses staring back at him.

"What makes you think I did something?" Wally's hand instinctively went to his bag of chips only to find it empty. A dejected look crossed his face as he let out a soft whimper.

"Because you always do something. You do something. She retaliates."

"Not every time!"

Robin stood up and dusted off his pants. "Actually Kal and I started taking data. You either do or say something, albeit occasionally innocently, and she reacts. Or overreacts."

"Ha!" Wally pointed an accusatory finger. "Not always my fault."

"But you still know her buttons, dude. Better than the rest of us, anyways. You should know better."

"I don't like what you're insinuating..."

"The you're going to have to just bare with me until I can find a metaphor that doesn't use the phrase "sexual tension" or reference every sitcom ever written."

Wally had immediately turned around and groaned at the mention of sexual tension. Snickering could be heard as Robin hurried to catch up. The two headed down the hallway, neither really leading the other. By whatever happenstance, or Wally's natural instincts, they found themselves in the kitchen. Robin hopped up on the counter as Wally b-lined for the refrigerator.

"It's like, again, bear with me, when you're little and you like someone and want to play house with them. You act like you don't want to be the dad, but you only if so-and-so is the mom..." The young boy was gesturing wildly with his hands, but it was lost on his friend who was still head-first in the fridge.

"This is turning into a completely unwanted and different conversation," Wally sighed as he finally closed the fridge. His arms we filled with sodas, pudding cups, and the occasional apple. He nodded towards the living room and Robin followed.

"Fine, we'll leave that one for another day, but you can't deny that when it comes to closeness, Artemis is more comfortable with you, and that can be for whatever reason you want to tell yourself." He flopped down on the couch and adjusted his sunglasses.

"Uh-huh. And what about Megs and Zatanna? They seem close." Wally arranged the snacks on the table before them.

"Duh. They're girls, but when it comes to who knows her buttons and what to do when she's feeling down, you're the man to ask." Dick adopted an impish grin before grabbing an apple. It was really annoying how right this kid could be.

"Alright," Dinah said as she turned back to Artemis, "where do you want to start?"

"How long do we have to do this?" Artemis asked. She brought her legs up off the floor and crossed them in her chair. Her elbows sat on her knees and she placed her chin in her hands, meeting Dinah's eyes.

"Today? Until we get a stopping point. We could start with what Wally said to you earlier. About Green Arrow babysitting you? Why was that so upsetting?"

Artemis's eyes never left Black Canary's and held them there. The starring lasted a few moments before she broke.

"How much do you know? Exactly." she asked, her posture straightening.

"The same as I've always known - just what's available to the League." Her eyes softened. "And you know we don't think any less of you for it."

Artemis scoffed. "Thanks, I appreciate it." Her words were heavy with sarcasm, but still retained some truth. "But you can see why that's hurt, right? I've already unwillingly bounced from parent to parent, and when I was with...dad, it was hardly stable." Referring to him as "dad" was one of the harder things Artemis had ever done. It was never an enjoyable subject. "He'd usually order a pizza and leave for days at a time. Any time I was allowed the honor of training, it was usually with someone else." She sighed as she felt the emotional floodgates open. "Then Jade left as soon as she could because she didn't want to "babysit"...And I swear, if I start crying during one of these sessions, I will flip over a table." She huffed, her legs hitting the floor and arms crossing at the same time. "What?"

Black Canary smiled. "It's ok to cry every once and a while, and if you're worried about what the rest of the team would say, I'll personally make sure none of them know."

Artemis scowled at the ceiling, daring her tears to form. "It's just the last thing I need him making fun of me for."

"I assume you mean Wally? He was the one you were most worried about after the Failsafe mission, too."

"I don't like what you're insinuating," Artemis replied with a narrowing of her eyes.

"I'm not insinuating anything. Only stating an observation." The two held one another's gaze for some time until Artemis once again broke the silence.

"Can I go now?"

Black Canary sighed as she leaned back into her seat. "Fine. I think Batman might have a mission for you and Wally, anyways." Artemis sat up and headed for the door. "Oh, and Artemis? Maybe think about why you haven't told them yet. About your family, that is."

"Yeah, sure." Artemis dismissed the thought as she left the room, leaving Dinah alone to shake her head in mild frustration. This was definitely going to be harder than she thought.

Hastily made Chapter 2. I had hoped to post this earlier, but who knew headaches made it harder to write?! Please enjoy :D

::disclaimer, disclaimer::