the robin & the canary; young justice

o12: Homefront

S T A R C I T Y
September 22, 09:45 PDT

It was common knowledge, to anyone she knew, that Reese was distrusting in most people. Maybe it was the fact that she'd spent almost an entire year on the streets of Star City before being taken in by Roy and Oliver, or the fact that she just found most people incompetent.

Whatever the reason, once the adoption papers had been signed by one Oliver Jonas Queen, and once the ten-year-old Reese had stated, in no uncertain terms, that she would not be attending school, the homeschooling had begun.

Dinah was her primary teacher. And so, here the two were, almost three years later, in one of Star City's parks, coincidentally the same one where Reese had first shown Dick the golden arrowheads she had gotten from Kent Nelson, about a month ago now.

"Okay," Dinah began as she sat across from Reese at a cement picnic table near the center of the park, different books spread out between them. "What did I say today's subject matter was?"

"History of the Justice Society," Reese answered simply, and Dinah gave her protege a nod.

"Good," she said, before clasping her fingers together over the table. "Now, tell me what you know,"

"Dinah," Reese began. "Why do we have to do this? It's bad enough that Captain Atom's our teacher on covert ops. I don't need to know about the first team of superheroes when I can very well just go and ask Jay Garrick about it,"

Jay Garrick, also known as the very first Flash, had been a founding member of the Justice League's predecessor, along with Dr. Fate, Alan Scott's Green Lantern, and a few others.

Dinah gave the young brunette a slightly disapproving look before she gave an answer.

"I'll admit," the older blonde woman began. "It isn't exactly my cup of tea either, but you know, Reese, you're going to have to learn about it sometime,"

"I'll go and ask Jay about it," she answered simply. "In Central City,"

Dinah stared at Reese for a moment, before her eyes widened, and she gave the brunette a sly grin that instantly made Reese suspicious.

"Are you sure you're upset about learning about the Justice Society?" Dinah asked. "Or is it because a certain Boy Wonder is starting the school year all the way in Gotham City, and you're still being homeschooled on the opposite coast?"

"What?" Reese asked, genuinely confused, though the tell-tale red blush to her face told a different story. "No. I mean, why would I care that Artemis is starting at Gotham Academy, and Dick's the only other one on the Team who knows who she really is, but he can't tell anyone because he promised me he wouldn't and Artemis doesn't even know that he's Robin and--"

At this point, Reese had begun to ramble as her thoughts started to get away from her, but Dinah managed to stop her babbling by placing her hand on top of Reese's twitching fingers.

"Baby bird," Dinah began. "Slow down. What do you mean, Dick's the only other one who knows who Artemis really is?"

When she realized what she had just revealed, Reese looked down at her lap, taking her hands out from underneath Dinah's and wringing her fingers together.

"Uh..." she started. "Well, I may or may not, have asked Dick to run a background check on Artemis after she first joined the Team,"

"Reese--" Quickly, the brunette cut Dinah off.

"I know!" she said hurriedly, saying her next words all in one breath. "I know it was wrong because everyone deserves their secrets, but it was after Dad first introduced us, and then I was worried that he was replacing me, and--"