A New Beginning

A/N Pic above is Arty now. Outfit included.

Two Years Later

Artemis' POV

I slipped on my clothes and left the bathroom and headed downstairs to the kitchen/dining room. My baby foster sister, Melanie, was sitting in her highchair, eating breakfast. It was smeared all over her face and chest. I rolled my eyes. This was exactly why my foster dads made her eat in just her diaper. I knew that there was no way I was that messy when I was two.

Melanie had been brought here two years ago, just two months after me, when she was a tiny baby. My foster dads, Justin and Carlos, adopted her on her second birthday a few weeks ago. It wasn't really any different in her little world, though. They were seriously considering adopting me, I had overheard them talking about it. I would have to tell them my true identity though. It was only right.

Since being ditched by the League, I had cut my hair, started wearing contacts that made my eyes appear brown, and changed my name. Not legally changed, but changed. When the police found me shortly after the incident, I told them that my name was Ellie Rose. When they couldn't find an Ellie Rose that matched my description, I told them that it was because my parents had been homeless my whole life; that I had been born and raised on the streets. They had been too busy with a bunch of wild boys to really check out my story. They just called child services and they placed me in a group home for the night, and then put me with Dad (Justin) and Papa (Carlos). Bonus: I now lived in a beach town in Hawaii.

Dad was at the stove making pancakes. "Hi, Dad!" I said as I walked over to my seat. My ten year old foster sister, Mindy, stuck her foot out and tripped me, laughing when I stumbled.

"Mindy, no," Dad said sternly. I was already completely sick of Mindy and she'd only been here two months. She was here because her crack addicted parents were in prison. She had been allowed to run wild before now. As long as she stayed out of her parents' way, she was allowed to do whatever she wanted. If she got in their way, they would hit her. Hey, I know that was bad, but it was nowhere near as bad as my childhood.

Mindy stuck her tongue out at him. I slapped her. "Ellie!" Papa snapped.

"What?" I said. "My sister and I hit each other all the time!"

"Well, we don't allow that here, Elle. How many times do we have to tell you that?"

I shrugged and started to eat my food. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Papa answered it. "Hola," He said to whoever it was. I looked up to see Kid Flash and Miss Martian.

'What are Wally and Megan doing at my house?' I thought, looking at them.

"There's fighting at the other end of the city. It's still pretty far off, but the League wants everyone under the age of eighteen to go to the recreation center on the outskirts of town. We're supposed to check every house. Do you have any kids?" KF asked.

"Yes, three of them," Dad said, stepping in.

"Ok, they need to come with us," Miss M stated.

My foster dads nodded. "Mindy, Ellie, Melanie, go with them, ok? Ellie, you're in charge of Mindy and Mellie, ok?" I nodded and took Melanie out of her highchair, quickly wiping her of and putting on her bubble, which is a weird name for a puffy outfit that little kids wear. I carried her over to where Wally, Megs, and Mindy were waiting. They took us and a bunch of other kids on the bioship. Everyone was in awe of the craft but me; I'd been on it countless times. I could even fly the thing if I wanted to.

A while later, I was in the rec center playing with Mellie and helping take care of the other toddlers. Mindy was running around like a lunatic with a bunch of kids her age. KF walked up to me. "Hey," He said, with a small smile. It wasn't the flirty smile that I was used to seeing, though. "You look familiar. What's your name?"

"Ellie Rose," I answered with a smile. 'Soon to be Ellie Rodriguez-Martin if all goes well."

"Oh right, you're the foster girl from Clarke Street, right?" I nodded. "But that's not where I know you from," He said.

I shrugged. "How else would you know me?"

"I don't know!" He laughed. "That's what I'm trying to figure out!" Two of the other teen heroes, whose names I knew to be Zatanna and Rocket walked up to us.

"Hi!" Zatanna said cheerfully. "You probably already know this, but I'm Zatanna!"

I stuck out my hand. "Ellie Rose."

"Mewanie!" Melanie crowed.

I laughed. "This is my little sister Melanie."

"Nice to met you, Melanie," Zatanna said with a smile. Melanie smiled at her and giggled.

Mindy, who had noticed the sidekicks with me, ran over. "I'm Mindy Hartfield, Ellie's other little sister!"

I smirked. "So now that I have superheroes with me, you call me your sister."

"Yep! Rocket, you're my favorite superhero!"

"That's awesome!" Rocket said enthusiastically.

"So what are the sidekicks doing here?" I asked.

"The League sometimes gives us missions to handle ourselves," Rocket told me.

"So like a sidekick team?" I said.

"Exactly," Zatanna said. "How'd you know that?"

I shrugged. "So, who's on the team?"

"Nightwing, Zatanna, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Superboy, Aqualad, and me," Rocket said.

I nodded. "Has Red Arrow been on the team, since, ya know, he was a sidekick?"

"He was briefly, Zee and I weren't there for that though. He wasn't a good fit. They seriously regretted getting rid of the archer they had on the team before him."

KF groaned at the mention of me. But, Rocket said they regretted getting rid of me. I had to learn more. "What other archer?"

KF shook his head, but Rocket ignored him. "After Red went solo, Greenie got another sidekick, a girl named Artemis. She was apparently pretty bad***. The League kicked her out though, because her parents were villains. The team *cough* KF *cough* didn't like her and they wanted Red on the team, but Red didn't like Artemis, so they tried to get rid of her. Same day, mind you. Oh, and her parents kicked her out of the house early that morning for being a hero. No one's seen hair nor hide of her since. She's kinda become a forbidden subject around the original team members and the League. They all feel bad about her. Say if they ever find her again, she'll be given her spot back. Honestly, I'd love to meet her."

I nodded and said, "As someone who's been kicked out of her home and lost "friends" to someone who didn't like me, I relate, and it sucks, let me say."

Suddenly. the rest of the sidekicks were there. Nightwing signaled to the door. "Bats says that it's time for us to go."

"Kay," Zatanna said. She, Rocket, and KF wished my foster sisters and I goodbye and left. Wally glanced at me over his shoulder and another flicker of recognition crept in them. Then he turned around and left. Dad and Papa picked Mindy, Mellie, and me up a few minutes later, and I spent the next week pondering what I had learned. I was not expecting what happened a week after the run-in with my old team, though.