Artemis Crock sighed and stared up at the sky thinking about the past year. It has already been a year since Wally West died, and she's been living alone ever since. She's considered moving on with someone else, but she knows that there's no one that could ever replace Wally. It was the first day of a new school that the Justice League had started funding: Gotham Academy and Prep School. It was exclusively reserved for sidekicks or kids with potential to wield some sort of power. This was for college and high school students who couldn't get into any other schools with excuses of having super powers or leaving on call...or even having gills or being green. Artemis knew how this school worked, so she knew that the entire team was going to be there. She looked up at the building.

Seems like a pretty decent school... Artemis thought to herself. She scanned the large crowds for anyone she knew. Then she spotted a familiar boy on the sidewalk standing at a bulletin board. She ran up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Bart?" Artemis asked, and she was right. It was Bart Allen, the speedster who replaced Wally as Kid Flash, but still goes by Impulse.

"Heya Artemis! So, you go here too! That's so crash! In fact, I'm pretty sure I saw Superboy earlier, too. Do you know who else is going to be here?" Bart asked rather quickly, rambling on.

"I'm pretty sure everyone from the team is going to be here. M'gann told me she was going to be here. How about Jaime?"

"Oh, I know he's coming! He was complaining about the uniform aaall night last night!" Bart said. Artemis turned her head.
"I see why..."
Bart looked in her direction and saw Jaime Reyes walking up to them. He looked extremely uncomfortable in his uniform. He tugged at his collar and untied his tie. This made Bart snicker.

"I don't understand how you guys can survive this!" Jaime said.

"We don't." Another familiar voice said from behind them. The three of them turned to see Conner Kent and M'gann M'orzz walking up to the group.

"Where's La'gann?" Artemis asked as she looked around.

"Not coming. He looked at the uniform and said he wasn't going." M'gann responded as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Heh, I don't blame him." Jaime chuckled.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE UNIFORMS?!" Bart asked in disbelief, because clearly, he was the only one there who liked the uniform.

"Everything! Even the thought of them, Hermano!" Jaime said as he tugged on his collar again. Then they heard giggling behind them. They all turned to see Cassie Sandsmark and Tim Drake, holding hands. They were the most recent couple on the team.

"Hey guys!" Cassie beamed and waved to the group.

"Someone's in a good mood..." another voice piped up. It was Garfield Logan, "Is it the fact that you're together? Or the fact that it's the first day of school? Because these uniforms make it the worst day of my life..." Bart stared at him and didn't even bother. He just crossed his arms and tapped his foot rapidly, refraining from yelling.

"Tim. Cassie. Nice to see you two still going strong." Conner said as he shot M'gann a quick glance.

"Of course!" Cassie said. Suddenly, they all heard rapid footsteps.

"Hey Artemis! Long time no seee!!!" A girl squealed behind Artemis. As soon as Artemis turned around, the girl had already started squeezing her.

"Uh, hi! I'm sorry, who is this?" Artemis asked. The girl let go of her and let Artemis see who she was: it was Zatanna. She and Zatanna have been very good friends since the day Zatanna was first allowed to visit the team. Now Zatanna was part of the Justice League, but she enjoyed joining the team on a few missions.

"Oh! Hey Zatanna!" Artemis smiled and hugged her back.

"How are you?" Zatanna asked as they left the large crowd and they walked inside the school. She knew what Artemis has been through, with losing Wally. Artemis sighed.

"It's been a lonely and extremely painful year, but I've made it through." Artemis answered and managed a small smile.

"Look, I'm still extremely sorry about what happened. Just know that if you need anything, I'm always willing to help." Zatanna said.

"Thanks, Zee." Artemis smiled. Then Zatanna gasped.

"IDEA!" she squealed. Artemis gave her a confused look, "go on a date with someone! Find someone new!" Artemis' mouth gaped.

"Are you serious?!"

"Yeah! Come on! Move on! Keep going! Wally said so himself! It's what he would've wanted!" Zatanna said as she put her hands on her hips waiting for an answer. Artemis bit her lip.

"...fine. But you have to help me with this." Artemis said as she pointed her index finger at Zatanna, who nodded. Then the bell rang, and all the students filed into the auditorium.

                                                                       ___________________________

"Welcome everyone to Gotham Academy and Prep School! Here, we are determined to prepare all you young students for college and beyond! In our high school and college school programs!" the principal, Mr. Torres, spoke. His voice boomed across the auditorium of students. Everyone applauded, "Thank you, thank you. Now we will be hearing a few words from one of the leaders of the main group who helped with funding the school and keeping our city safe, The Justice League. Here is one of the main men of the Justice League, Batman." The auditorium broke into loud applause, whistles, and cheering. Artemis saw most people around her looking at Barbara Gordon, who sat next to her. She started to sink into her seat as Batman walked out on stage.

"Thank you, Principal Torres. Yes, welcome everyone, again. You all were exclusively chosen to attend this school, because you all have something in common: your powers and abilities. We, as the Justice League, know that each one of you in this room have some sort of responsibility keeping your town or city safe. Here at Gotham Academy and Prep School, you are free to talk about and show your powers here at school. Because you all have some sort of connection to the Justice League, whether it be family or your powers. Let's all hope for a great and educational school year. Thanks." Batman spoke his last word of wisdom and walked off stage as the audience stood, applauded, and cheered.

"Thank you, Batman. Now let's all head to first period everyone!" Principal Torres announced and everyone left to head to their first class.

*Skip to lunch, which is five classes later*

It was lunch, and Artemis, Zatanna, M'gann, and Barbara were sitting under a tree eating their lunches.

"That was humiliating..." Barbara muttered as she tore a piece from her sandwich and tossed it out onto the grass, where a strange green bird came down and took it. Then M'gann looked at another nearby tree,

"Look at them." She gestured over to the tree.

"Who?" Zatanna asked.

"Cassie and Tim." M'gann answered. Tim and Cassie were sitting underneath another tree laughing and eating together. Artemis looked down in sorrow, catching Zatanna's attention.

"Hey! Artemis! Ready to choose a boy?" she asked, resulting in gasps from M'gann and Barbara.

"Are you finally moving on?" M'gann asked in disbelief.

"It's about time!" Barbara said.

"So, who are my choices?" Artemis asked. The girls looked around for any boys that they knew.

"Well, there's Conner..." Zatanna suggested.

"NO!" M'gann shouted, then they all stared at her, "I mean...you're not his type..." she corrected. They all shrugged.

"How about Jaime?" Barbara suggested. Artemis looked over at Jaime and Bart leaning against the building eating their lunches.

"He's a...maybe....but I feel like there are still some people missing..." Artemis said.

"Oh yeah, there's the original Roy Harper..." M'gann said.

"The one who got suspended from the team?! No thanks." Artemis shuddered, "But what about..."

"Dick! Where's Dick?!" Barbara asked. Suddenly, the green bird that sat next to Barbara the whole time started chirping loudly. It almost sounded like it was...laughing.

"Wait a second..." Artemis said.

"Garfield! Spying on girls is so NOT cool!" M'gann yelled. She groaned, then nodded at Zatanna, who nodded in response.

"Egnahc mih kcab ot sih eurt mrof!" Zatanna cast her spell on the bird, and Garfield turned back into a green monkey-human hybrid.

"Aw man...guys, they caught me!" Garfield shouted to Bart and Jaime, who were watching from afar and dying of laughter. Bart ran over to them with his lightning speed.

"Whatcha guys talking about?" Bart asked.

"They're talking about boys!" Garfield said.

"Ooh! Boys!" Jaime said as he ran up to the group.

"Nothing you boys would be interested in..." Zatanna said.

"I see. Crash! Love to help, but us boys just don't know what you girls see in other guys." Bart replied, and with that, the three of them headed over to where Tim and Cassie were sitting and started bugging them.

"Ugh. THERE they are..." Barbara said, and they all turned to see Dick Grayson and the original Roy Harper walking up to them.

"Um, Babs...did you NOT get my text? Batman wanted to see us." Dick said and crossed his arms.

"Oops, sorry! While you were doing that, you were DITCHING SCHOOL!" Barbara said.

"Well, the whole point of this new school, is so that we can ditch school if it's related to the 'superhero business'." Dick said and rolled his eyes. He smiled at the rest of them. Then he turned to Artemis.

"Hey. How've you been? Haven't seen you in a while."

"Eh, I'm better than I was before...you?" Artemis asked.

"Same. Wally being gone...it just doesn't seem like this is...real, you know?"

"Yeah. Hard to believe." Artemis replied. They lingered on each other a second too long.

"Oh! Well, nice seeing everyone again." Dick said, and he and Roy walked off. The other three girls stared at Artemis.

"OMG, girl! Did you see those sparks?" Barbara asked.

"Ask him out." Zatanna said.

"Guys! He's my best friend, and a year younger than me!" Artemis said.

"Excuses, excuses!" M'gann said.

"Don't worry. She'll come around soon enough." Zatanna said, and they continued to eat their lunches. Artemis looked down at the grass, then back up at where Dick was standing. She's never seen him without his mask before...he's kind of cute. She took a bite from her sandwich and smiled to herself.

...Maybe I will...

                                                      __________________________________

After school, the team met at Mount Justice. Mount Justice was rebuilt at a different location on Happy Harbor after Aqualad blew it up a year ago.

"How was school for everyone?" Aqualad asked once everyone was there.

"A pain." Jaime answered, still tugging on his shirt collar.

"You could say that again." Barbara added as she glared at Garfield, who just smiled and chuckled nervously.

"I hope you're all ready, because we have a mission for all of you...and a surprise." Aqualad said. Then they all turned to one of the Zeta Tube entrances as soon as they heard it whirring to life.

"Recognized. Nightwing, B01." The computer said as Nightwing walked in and joined the group.

"That's right. Nightwing is returning from his year of absence." Aqualad said.

"I've had a long enough break. Time to get back to the field." Nightwing said as he walked to Aqualad's side. He scanned the crowd, recognizing everyone.

"Now, everyone. Go suit up and report back here in 5." Aqualad commanded.

"Thank GOODNESS!" Jaime sighed and started taking off his tie as he ran off.

"So, Tigress or Artemis?" Bart asked Artemis as he walked behind her. She turned to him and looked down. For the past year, she's been going out as Tigress, trying to get rid of the feeling of being Artemis, Wally's partner.

"Maybe I should give Artemis a second chance..." Artemis answered.

"So crash! See you then...Artemis!" Bart smiled and ran off at his super speed.

-To be continued-

Please leave any comments or constructive criticism! :D Thanks for reading! And find part two SOON!