Protect The Batboys

training montage? check!

Tim watched with Artemis as Kaldur sparred with M'gann and Wally sparred with Conner, doing his best to not sweat buckets as Artemis dangled the truth in his face.

"So...my favorite bird is definitely the robin. How about you, Tim?" Artemis smirked at her lame joke, watching as M'gann landed a solid punch to Kaldur's ribcage.

"I guess it would be ravens, although I don't have time to really get into the bird fandom." Tim shrugged. Artemis frowned, turning back to the fights.

They weren't using their powers this time as they wanted to strengthen themselves physically, so it was a bit surprising when Wally managed to land a kick to Conner's chin. Conner stumbled back, clutching his jaw. Once the initial pain wore off, he drew his fist back and aimed a punch for Wally's stomach, one the speedster started to dodge so it ended up landing on his chest instead. Wally fell to the floor, stunned and gasping for air.

Conner crouched next to him and held out his hand, helping his friend to his feet with a smile. "I win."

"Yeah, yeah, way to not rub it in." Wally muttered, dusting himself off as they approached the two spectators. They accepted the waters that Artemis handed them gratefully, turning to watch M'gann and Kaldur finish up their sparring session.

Kaldur had M'gann at the end of her rope, exhausted and striking sloppily, while he was still composed and energized from years more experience. M'gann lunged at Kaldur, fist pulled back to strike. Kaldur simply stepped to the side to dodge. He pulled back his hand and chopped the side of M'gann's neck where it meets her shoulder, and instantly she collapsed, temporarily paralyzed.

Tim pretended to be in awe of their fighting skills, having seen them train before. "Wow, where were these warriors when we were attacked at the gala?" He drawled teasingly, jumping out of the way of Artemis' pinch. "I'm joking, I'm joking! Anyways, Artemis has yet to spar, anyone up for another round?"

A figurative light bulb went off above Artemis' head. "Hey, why don't I spar against you?"

"What? No way."

"Why not? I can teach you a few moves." Artemis smirked, knowing that his Robin pride would get the better of him. And she was right as Tim begrudgingly agreed to spar with her. So the two of them walked to the center of the gym while the rest of the team recuperated on the outskirts and watched. Artemis got into a fighting stance, rolling her eyes as Tim stood their and pretended to not know what to do. "Here, copy my stance. I guess I'll start by teaching you how to throw a basic punch, because you clearly don't kn-nngh!"

Artemis clutched her throat gasped for air after Tim threw a quick punch to her windpipe. He narrowed her eyes at her challengingly. "Bruce taught us how to fight, the basics anyways. Now, if you are done being condescending, let's get this over with."

Artemis coughed, smirking when she saw the fire in her teammate's eyes. Oh, she was ready for this. "Come on then, show me what you've got."

Tim scoffed before aiming a kick at the archer's stomach, one she easily dodged. Artemis sucker-punched Tim in the left arm, making it lose feeling temporarily. With a grunt, Tim roundhouse kicked Artemis in the back and sent her to the floor. She rolled over and sprang to her feet, jumping out of the way of Tim's flying fist. She struck, chopping Tim in the stomach. Tim groaned, stumbling backwards before fixing his face in a steely glare.

"You want me to show you what I've got, fine." He grit out through his teeth, momentarily forgetting that his team does not know his identity.

Tim charged at Artemis much faster this time, diving under her arm to sweep her legs out from under her. She grunted, jumping to a crouch to dodge the foot aimed for her ribs. She grabbed Tim's ankle, eyes widening in surprise when she felt it twist in her grip. She had no space to evade Tim's other kick as he spun mid air to connect his foot with her shoulder, knocking her to the floor once more.

Snarling, Artemis rolled backwards and out of range before standing. She took a deep breath, counted to three, and charged. She tried to copy the chop Kaldur used on M'gann but Tim caught her wrist with a smirk, performing the chop himself on Artemis.

She fell to the ground in a heap, looking up as Tim clapped his hands together. "Alright, I think that is enough training for today. Good work, everyone." He turned to leave the room, stopping when Artemis spoke.

"Nice job, Robin, you earned that win."

"Thanks, you were too distracted." He spoke without thinking, eyes going wide when he realized his mistake. "I-I mean - shit."

Artemis looked up at her team with a smug grin before speaking through the mind link.

And I'm guessing this is a coincidence too?