I don't normally put Author's notes at the beginning, but this is a special case. This story will get dark. This story will get slightly fucked up. If you can't handle that, then please leave now.

Artemis woke up, her throat feeling as though it had been set ablaze. She needed a drink. Opening her bleary eyes, she was almost blinded by how white everything was.

"White?" She thought, her brain slowly coming to life. "My room isn't white? Her eyes snapped open, a mixture of terror and surprise bringing her senses to life. What she saw wasn't her bedroom back in California, but rather a padded white wall. She sprang to her feet, head on a swivel, taking in her surroundings. It wasn't just that wall that was white, but the whole room. It was small, and padded; like a cell in Arkham Asylum, but this was not Arkham. It was too quiet. She'd been there before, with the prisoners maniacal laughs and tortured screams echoing through the building like a psychotic thunder, she was surprised that anyone who worked there didn't go crazy. But the lingering question in her head remained; where the hell was she? Thoughts raced through her head so fast that she failed to notice what she was wearing. Or, in this case, lack of what she was wearing, until she saw her reflection in the small window on the door.

"Where are my clothes!" She tried to yell, the distorted naked image of herself causing her eyes to widen. Artemis had tried to yell, at least, but nothing escaped her lips. She tried again, and still nothing, but her throat still felt like someone had forced her to swallow a lit match.

"Why can't I speak!" She thought loudly. "And what is wrong with my throat?" She stepped towards the tiny window, tilting her chin up to examine her neck. What she found was horrifying. A thin surgical scar, spanning the the width of her neck, right across where her voice box would have been. She tried to let out a terrified gasp, but no sound emerged. All she could do was stare at the completely vulnerable reflection of herself in silence. She wanted to see the strong, independant archer who had earned her place on a team of superheroes by her skill, not this scared little girl. Shaking her head she turned away from the window, scolding herself.

"Pull yourself together Artemis." She commanded. "Feeling scared is not going to fix this situation. You need to keep a level head, and think clearly. Who could have done this, and why?" Pausing for a second to think, one thing became clear to her. Sportsmaster had to be involved. No one else who would want to do this to her knew where she lived.

"Gross dad." She shuddered, realizing her own father had probably seen her naked. "But who would be able to remove my vocal cords with such precision?" This question was a little tougher. There were the villains with the ability to do it themselves, like The Brain, or even Ivo some how. Then there were those who could get someone to do it for them, such as Luthor or Savage. With the villains seemingly working together, it really could be any one of them. She needed clues. "The window," she realized. She stepped back towards the door, trying to find something outside the room that would give her some sort of indication as to what the hell was going on. Instead, Artemis found herself staring down a long, blank, white hallway. "Great. I guess I'm gonna have to think this one out on pure brain power."

…...

In a control room down the hall, Joker, Sportsmaster, The Brain, and Vandal Savage watched the young girl pacing around the room.

"I am surprised you allowed us to strip your daughter down to her, how should I say, indecencies, Sportsmaster." Savage said, turning to face the mercenary. "After the whole debacle with us thinking Aqualad had killed her, I assumed you were a family man." Sportsmaster burst out in laughter.

"I don't love my family," he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "I don't even care about them. I was just trying to protect my rep. I don't give a shit what happens to her. You want to strip her down to the skinnies, be my guest. So long as my check clears, you could kill her for all I care."

"I will keep that option in my mind," Joker said, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "It may come in handy while I'm trying to break hers." He burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Only as an extreme measure," the Brain's electronic voice chimed in. "An act of physical harm would add another variable to our experiment. Remember, we are testing what a prolonged period of silence will do to the human mind and body."

"Yes." Savage nodded, facing the screen once more. "We must find a way to help the human race evolve at a much more rapid rate, and silence torture is one method used by the Reach to force the meta Gene to activate. We have simply altered their method in order to achieve our goals. Do not mess it up Joker."

"But Savage," Joker said with a psychotic mirth, grinning from ear to ear. "That's the beauty of this experiment, isn't it? It's so messed up!" Savage smiled cruelly, apparently pleased with Joker's remark.

"Indeed it is, Joker. Which is why I've paired you with the Brain for this. While he can be the science behind this, you are the puppet master. So please, pull her strings." Joker cackled with joy.

"Oh don't worry," he replied. "I plan on making her dance."

"As of this morning, Artemis is declared missing. Our objective, find out where she is." Kaldur addressed the team in a manner that most would call Batman-esk. There was no emotion in his voice, but everyone could tell that was only because he was masking them. This was a serious mission, and Kaldur could not afford to let his emotions cloud his judgment.

"Batgirl," Kaldur began, starting to assign teams. "You are on computer search. Coordinate the squads, and search anything possible to help us discover Artemis's location." Batgirl turned around and began working on the holo computer immediately, her fingers flying like a blur over the keys. "Robin,Wonder Girl, M'gann," he continued, " you're alpha. You are to search Artemis's home for any clues that could help us to find her. Use the bio-ship." Tim and Cassie exchanged a glance, blushing slightly, before following M'gann towards the docking bay. "Beast Boy, Beetle, Superboy, Imp…" Kaldur stopped himself. "I mean Kid Flash, you're Beta. You're job is to track down Artemis's sister Jade, and her mother Paula. See if they know anything about her whereabouts."

"Isn't Jade Cheshire?" Bart asked, before covering his mouth, thinking he'd overstepped with his future knowledge.

"Indeed, which is why this is a team of four." Aqualad confirmed. He gave Bart a look that let him know it was ok, and he had not crossed any boundaries.

"Got ya. Let's bolt Blue," Kid Flash said, speeding to the Zeta tubes. Superboy just rolled his eyes before walking to the teleporters.

"Of course I get stuck with adhd," he muttered to Aqualad as he walked by, only half complaining.

"The rest of us are Delta. We are the goose chasers. We check every place Artemis frequents. We follow every lead that the others find. We are going to find her. Let's move." With a definitive tone in his voice, Kaldur marched towards the zeta tubes. The team had just lost Wally not more than three months ago. He was not going to lose somebody else, especially not Artemis. This he promised silently to Wally.

Short first chapter. It's my thing apparently. But that's how I roll. I don't own Young Justice. Chapters will definitely get longer, and more mature as time goes on. You have been warned. But reviews are always welcome and encouraged. Until next time

Reaper of Heroes out.