A/N

So...PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! I've been pretty much editing and posting any docs that I wrote over my vacation (which, admittedly, wasn't much) and never really got around to writing any more chapters to any of my other stories...

For all you Wally lovers out there, I'm sosososo sorry (though I hope you still love this story anyways). Everyone else...Welcome to my first traught story!

Summary: Artemis takes Kaldur's place as good-guy-gone-bad when Cheshire dies at the hands of the Justice League. She 'kills' Nightwing, and obtains a new partner going by the name of Renegade. The pressure to find the Light's new partner is on, and so much time alone makes the two heroes notice a little something...TRAUGHT!

Chapter 1

Death's Beginning

"NO!" Artemis screamed, ignoring the battle around her and sliding to her knees beside her sisters convulsing body, ankle twitching as she landed on it heavily. "Jade, JADE, no no no nonono, please, Jade-"

Jade coughed, turning to look her sister in the eye. Artemis gently peeled off the Cheshire mask. "You've done well, ugh, for yourself Artemis. Do-don't l-cough-let that go to-to waste."

"Oh Jade," Artemis whispered, cradling her head, "please, please don't go, please don't leave me! I can f-fix it, just-just hold on a little longer," she pressed down on the heavily bleeding wound on Jade's side, "I can get you help-

Jade put a shaking finger up to Artemis's lips, stopping her mid-sentence. "I'll never le-leave you again, little sister. I'll be right, right he-here," taking in one last gasping breath, Jade whispered, "I love you.

"I l-love you t-too," Artemis sobbed, staring her sister in the eyes.

Jade smiled, eyes fluttering shut as her chest finally stilled. "D-don't leave me," Artemis whispered, breaking down into sobs. "NOOOO!"

The battlefield stilled as the last villain was tied up, the raw scream echoing over the wasteland. Nightwing turned, breaking into a sprint as he spotted Artemis kneeling over a still body.

"Artemis!" he yelled, skidding to a stop behind her as he spotted the body. "Oh n-Artemis, I'm so-" Artemis sprang to her feet, latching onto Nightwing and sobbing. Dick caught her automatically, sinking to his knees with her. Rubbing her shaking back, he whispered small nothingness to her, ignoring the blood and gore that ended up plastering to the both of them. League and Team alike formed a loose circle around the three, heads bowed in sorrow for her loss. Silence hung over the heroes like a blanket of dust until Artemis shot to her feet, a crazed look in her eyes.

"YOU," she screamed pointing a finger at a black cloaked figure, "you did this-how, why would you-?"

"Artemis!" Nightwing exclaimed, standing in her path, "you're not saying-not suggesting that Batman k-er; we all know he has a no killing policy.

Batman stood silent with his head bowed and Nightwing turned to look at him incredulously. Dick shook his head slowly, staring at his mentor, "Oh no. You promised you would never-"

"It was an accident," Batman interrupted, voice wavering for moment before it was replaced by his trademark growl, "she tripped and fell into the path of one of my Bat-a-rangs. I am very sorry for your loss, Artemis, it was an unfortunate accident."

"Unfortunate accident?!" Artemis's head snapped up as she glowered at the Dark Knight. "Is that all she was to you? She was my sister!" she pushed Nightwing out of the way and punched Batman squarely in the jaw, making the caped crusader stumble back a few steps. She stood there huffing for a moment and Dick carefully placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Artemis, let's go-"

"Don't touch me!" Artemis yelled, shoving Nightwing away from herself, hissing, "you're one of his."

Nightwing froze, shock and sadness written on his face as Artemis stumbled away from the warzone. The Team turned to look at him and Nightwing came back to himself, taking charge as Aqualad once had (years and years and years ago-or so it felt).

"Everyone on the Bioship, take it home-you all have the next 2 weeks off; I'll call you onn your communicator if any help is needed. For now, just-" Nightwing broke off, speech failing him as he swallowed heavily. The Team got the message, slowly breaking off in pairs of ones and twos. Megan laid a hand on his shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze before following Conner to the Bioship.

With the last of the Team gone, Nightwing turned to the League, who all stood solemnly around the body of Jade Nyguen. "We should make a memorial," Nightwing said suddenly, making several members jump. Green Arrow walked over and stood in front of Nightwing, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That sounds good son," he said, looking him in the eye, "I think Artemis would appreciate it.

Dick stiffly nodded, breaking the eye contact as he turned to leave with his Team. The whole time Batman stood to the side, head downcast as he mourned the loss of his son; they would never be the same after this.

Artemis sprinted from the Zeta down the muggy streets of Gotham, tears streaming down her face as she searched for the family apartment. One, two, three...sixteen...there! Artemis reached down and pulled out her spare crossbow, pulling an arrow out of her tattered quiver. Shooting an arrow with her crossbow, she swung up to her (and Jade's) window, forcing it open and jumping into the room, kicking down the door (it was locked) and sprinting to her mother's room (it was past midnight already).

"MOM!" she half shouted, half sobbed, pulling the handle open weakly and collapsing oon her bed, crying

"Artemis?" Paula Nyguen was up instantly, using her arms to pull herself to her daughters quivering body, gently pushing blood-matted hair out of her face. "Artemis, what happened?

Artemis just wailed, burrying her head in her mothers collar bone and wrapping her in a tight hug. "M-mom, J-Jade-"

"Jade? What happened?

"S-she's dead!" Artemis broke down in a new round of cry's and her mother soon joined her, pulling her daughter even closer. Neither of the Crock women got any sleep that night.

Balling his fists, Nightwing threw another punch at the patched punching bag, which swung towards the ceiling from the force of his throw. Jade, Jade was gone. The one person Dick had-

He let out another yell, spinning and kicking the battered bag.

-the one person he had confided in-

A flip, a punch, two rapid kicks.

-about his family-

Swipe, dive, scream.

-the worry that he'd become the next Batman-

Punch punch punch punch.

-how Bruce was becoming darker every day, how he couldn't save everyone-

Bird-a-rang, eskrima sticks.

-Tim's role as Robin, Jason's death-

A roar of rage, another pounding of flesh-on-fabric.

-and now she was gone; an enemy, a friend-

A scream of sorrow and a barrage of attacks.

-a sister-

BANG! The string holding the bag snapped and the bag went flying, exploding on impact with the wall. Nightwing panted heavily, wiping a stray tear away from his masked face. He started slightly as he caught sight of himself in the opposite mirror, a streak of blood swiped across his face. He looked down at his hands; they were torn and shredded, oozing blood and pain, most likely to bruise in the morning-er, later that day.

He walked over to the small wooden bench and sat down, using a towel to wipe his face and grabbing a roll of bandages to wrap his hands. How long had he been here? Dick couldn't really remember-Nightwing estimated 4-5 hours.

Today he had failed, as a leader, as a teammate, a comrade, a friend, a brother. Jade was dead, and he had lost yet another person in his disfunctional family. And Artemis-

He had failed her too.

A/N

Such a depressing start to a story...Oh well! Hope you liked it anyways ;)

Reviews=Input! If you're interested, I also just posted the next chapter of The New 52 Earth 2 Batclan...(*hint, hint*)

Kisses!

Alyss