The battle with the Joker was not going well at all. He was stronger than usual, and they all knew it. What was supposed to be a routine check-up mission around the outskirts of Gotham turned into a full out battle. He was managing to single-handedly fight off every attack the team was simultaneously throwing the him, as well as fight back. Those two, small, dagger like knives were deadly in his hands, and they all knew it. His hysterical laughter rose in the air as Kaldur just barely managed to avoid them. Robin flew through the air to land next to where Artemis crouched, shooting arrows at every opportunity. Soon, she would be out, and none of them had had an affect yet.

She noticed Robin's slightly heavy breathing. If Robin, of all people, was tired, they were pretty much screwed. He spoke through the mind link, stating what they already knew.

"He's never been this strong before. Ever. I've fought him tons of times, and none of these tricks are new. But he's just.. Better. I can't explain it."

"I couldn't tell." A sarcastic comment from Wally was heard as he tried to attack the Joker, but ended up being blocked and had to retreat from the vicious blades. Artemis quickly shot an arrow to cover him, the smoke that exploded from it giving him enough time to escape. He nodded to her in acknowledgment before running off. She reached into her quiver, realizing that she was on her last shot. She quickly ditched the empty quiver and put the last arrow into the bow. After this shot, she was going to need to fight fist to fist, and she didn't plan to be held down by an empty quiver.

As she knocked the arrow, the perfect opportunity presented itself. Wally was once again running towards the Joker, but he was otherwise occupied by evading a boulder M'gann was trying to drop on his head. He didn't see Wally, but from the way this fight way going, her would be able to fight the speedster off. She shot her arrow, the tip of it perfectly aimed towards Wally's back. She felt her stomach jump to her throat as she hoped desperately that he would move fast enough.

Her arrow kept up with his superior speed. And thank god, he caught on to her idea, and didn't even need to be thrown across the thin woods. At the last second, just before the Joker could either grab or slice him, he veered to the side. The Joker, expecting to have to fight off Wally, was left wide open as the arrow buried itself in his gut.

A disgusted cheer rang from M'gann in their heads as blood began to gush from the wound and the Joker removed the arrow. Each of the team members simultaneously backed away, watching to see what his next move would be.

Despite the wound, his maniacal laugh rose to the height of the trees.

"Doesn't he feel any pain?" The voice came from Wally. "Because I would think that that would hurt like hell."

"He is clearly beyond pain. I fear that we must finish this completely." Kaldur spoke cooly.

"Are.. we allowed to do that?"

"Do you want to live?" Artemis shot back at Wally, then threw herself at the Joker, a flying kick landing across his face as she entered into an intense battle with him. After her first attack, he was able to block and counter all of her moves; as the best among them at hand-to-hand combat, except for maybe Robin, Artemis took the danger of being in close while the others threw ranged attacks. She wouldn't admit to having trouble, but the adrenalin pumping through her system wasn't enough. She could feel exhaustion begin to set in, and her movements get a little slower. She had to get out of there soon.

She glanced around at her teammates, careful to keep an eye on the Joker. He was as strong as before, and he was using the bloodied arrow as a weapon. As she stepped back for a moment, her snapped it, laughing again.

"This WON'T STOP MEEEEEE!" He launched himself at Artemis, and she prepared to duck and roll. But the attack never came. He went past her, going straight at M'gann, both the weakest link and the strongest of them. She was talking to Conner to hold him back from doing who knows what, and wasn't paying attention.

"M'gann!" Artemis threw herself at the dagger the Joker had thrown to her, catching it by the handle in mid air. She went down into a roll, throwing the dagger to Robin as she came up. He would probably need it. She heard the tear of fabric; she must have caught her suit on a rock.

"HA HA I got youuuu.." The Joker leered before the sudden explosion of Joker venom, and the team was forced to take cover. M'gann quickly got the link up, immediately checking on everyone.

"All here and OK? And thanks for that save, Artemis." Artemis nodded at her, not knowing whether or not she could see her. They were approaching the bio ship now, and she could see the rest of the team coming out from various parts of the woods. Robin was holding the dagger tentatively, looking intently at the computer screen that popped up from his wrist.

"Shit, Artemis are you ok?" Wally sprinted over to her, looking at her leg. She spun away self consciously, but he grabbed her shoulders and forced her back.

"What the hell are you doing?" He was ripping off the sleeve of his suit. He looked up at her angrily.

"Look at your leg, you idiot! Would you stop trying to act tough already?" She glanced down at her thigh as he began to tie the yellow fabric around the ripped green. Blood was spilling everywhere, dying both fabrics crimson. Wally forced her to sit down, and she poked the would cautiously before speaking quietly.

"It… doesn't hurt."

"What do you MEAN It doesn't hurt? It's a gaping wound, dammit!"

She had never seen Wally like this. Apparently the other's hadn't, either, because they came to gather around. Robin took one look at her and looked especially grim.

"We need to get her back to the cave now, guys."

"We couldn't tell." Superboy, although he didn't like her, could see the seriousness of the situation. He had a steadying hand on M'gann's shoulder.

"I'm seriously alright, guys. It's just a scratch."

Robin stomped over to her, an action uncharacteristic of him, and leaned down in front of her, glaring at her face. She glared back.

"Spit it out, Robin!"

"It might not be a deep gash, but I'd bet just about anything that you were cut by a knife just like this one." He held up the dagger pointedly. "And if you were cut by this, you were poisoned. We need to get you back to the cave, now."

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to stand, as if to challenge him. "I'm not scared of poison." Her eyes were narrowed.

"Well it scares me to hell, so let's get going." Wally caught her in his arms as she began to fall, and ran into the bioship. M'gann flew in, and within seconds they were flying. Fast. Wally put her down on the floor, surprised that she hadn't yelled at him for picking her up. He glanced at her face, and saw why. She was pale, very pale, and was gritting her teeth. Wally was about to say something, but she spoke first.

"Hey, Robin… what the hell does that poison actually do?"

He spun around in his chair, looking at some molecular structure on his computer. "It has no point. None whatsoever. It doesn't kill directly, but causes numbness… hoping a person would bleed to death, I would say. What does it do?" He looked down at her, mask wrinkled with indistinguishable emotion.

"It causes pain."

Everything was getting blurry, and she didn't know why. Maybe the pain.

Because the pain was beyond description. It came in waves; excruciating, heart wrenching, making her wish for death. It spanned her entire body, the poison in her blood. She couldn't escape it, could barely keep from screaming. Or maybe she was screaming; she couldn't tell. What has started as an uncomfortable awareness of pain had turned into hell on earth. She heard Wally yelling at her.

"Stay with us, Artemis… you… the…" She couldn't concentrate on it. She tried, but she couldn't. Everything was fading away. She felt herself moved, felt the intense pain it caused, before the wave faded away and she could breathe again. She found herself in the infirmary.

Wally was there. He ran back and forth, pacing in the small space provided here.

"Wally…" He was next to her the instant she spoke his name. He smiled tentatively.

"How 'ya doing, Sugar?" She blinked. She must be hallucinating. Wally never called her sugar.

"Um.. better. How long has it been?" She asked the question quietly. She didn't really want to know. What if it hadn't been long, and the pain would come back?

"Two days." His eyes, usually vibrant green, were dark. "You were screaming in agony for two days." He had looked away, but turned to face her again with vehemence. "Never do that to me again. I don't know if I…" he ran a hand through his hair, an action she had never seen him do before. "Robin synthesized an antidote. You should be fine now. But promise me you won't take that kind of risk again." She could see how painful this was for him; they was his face was stretched and taunt, a thin boundary between emotion and outburst.

She looked at him for a moment before nodding once, firmly. Maybe he really did care.