Before the League of Shadows turned to evil, it was overseen by Lawrence Crock and consisted of many heroes, some of them soon to be villains. The Shadows are all Artemis Crock has known, but when Batman sends a new young hero to create and keep order within the Shadows, everything changes.
.
She wanted to get out. To go away. To be any where but here.
Artemis' father was in another one of his squabbles, arguing back and forth for hours with the so called "board members" of the Shadows. All they ever did was attack each other. She couldn't help but feel it defeated the purpose of heroism. That's what they were supposed to be, after all, right? A team of covert heroes? They never sounded like heroes. They sounded like power- hungry bureaucrats bickering over nothing.
The voices started to rise from within the walls of the conference room. Artemis decided her father, leader of the League of Shadows, wouldn't be out any time soon. She sighed in relief at the thought of escaping the tense atmosphere and left the corridor as quickly as she could. There was no speed too quick for her to run.
Once out in the open air of the garden balcony, she took in the sight below her. The Shadows headquarters was beautiful. The architecture, the landscape, the aroma, everything. It was a well funded organization, formed to protect the lives of the world. That was probably why it was implanted in the home of the biggest crime syndicates, cleverest mob bosses, most dangerous psychopaths.
Gotham City was not a place to settle down in. Dark, gritty, corrupt; Artemis couldn't understand why people chose to live in Gotham. Her father had told her all about the street gangs, secret head quarters of villains tucked away in illegal bars, insane criminals that roved the streets and did horrifying things to their victims. He had made sure she understood the danger she would be in if she ever set foot out of the Shadows. They were all she'd ever known.
Her older sister had told her many things about the outside world as well, although she was nearly as isolated as Artemis. There were many that came in and out, however. Red Arrow, for one, was not in the League of Shadows, but was part of the Justice League. He came often to get reports on the progress of the Shadows. Others came as well, some were strange looking superheroes, menacing and creepy, whom Artemis didn't recognize. She wondered if they were a part of any hero organization at all. They had private conferences with her father, always guarded and secretive. None of the other board members took part.
Once in a while one of the Trinity would come to personally oversee a mission or report. Batman came most often, since he himself was the overseer of Gotham. She could tell her father was afraid of him, though he would never admit it. She could see his nervousness when Batman came to inspect the base. He fidgeted with his fingers, and barked out orders to his men in more agitated tones. He was not nearly as uptight when Wonder Woman or Superman came for inspection. Artemis never gave a second thought to these people who passed through the base every now and then. They went about their business and she went about hers. And then there was Nightwing.
Her heart beat faster and she stirred from her thoughts. Where is he? She looked over the balcony with searching eyes.
The first day she had laid eyes on him was exactly two weeks ago. Batman had sent him to be her father's personal assistant; settling disputes, giving his opinion on decisions made by the Shadows, and anything else Sports Master might need. Right now he was needed, badly. He always had good advice to calm every one down. Even Artemis. The 16 year old looked to him for protection; peace seemed to flow from his touch. She rarely spoke to him, but when she did, his soft smile made her forget any trouble in her heart.
She suddenly spied him entering the ground level doors and smiled. Ignoring her racing pulse, she took a deep breath and met him at the elevator doors as they opened.
"You came just in time," she tried to keep up with him as he briskly exited the elevator. "Something's really brewing in there today."
"If it's the flavor I'm thinking of, it'll be tough to settle," he replied with chagrin.
Artemis stopped. "What?"
"You know, soup? You said, 'brewing,' I said, 'flavor'?"
The blank look on her face told him it wasn't computing. "I guess my puns are just too clever for some people," he continued walking with a sigh.
"Or just too corny for some people," Artemis muttered, glancing at him, then blushing when she saw he had heard and was smirking. They finally approached the conference room doors. "Better get in there before something over boils!" she mentally face-palmed at her weak pun. "That's the spirit!" Nightwing patted her head and disappeared behind the doors.
She sighed loudly and paused for a moment to listen to his melodic voice calming the storm from within. He wasn't too old for her, right? Two years might seem like a lot now, but in ten years no one would give it a second thought. It would be perfectly normal, you know, if it ever happened.
She could hear Nightwing's voice above the others' calming the argument down. Finally, all was quiet but for his voice. She wondered how an 18 year old boy could be so much wiser and more mature than the other adult heroes. She was sure they were probably equally matched in combat, but he seemed to settle the storm that was the League of Shadows. She had never actually seen them fight, because her father never taught her or let her watch them in combat. She saw them coming in and out of the training facility. Black Spider, Red Arrow, Sensei, Icon, Hook, and Zatara trained there regularly. Nightwing never trained with them. She figured he probably spent most of his time with Batman.
"Spying, Artemis?" Jade's voice came from down the hall. Artemis whirled to face her.
"Dad told me to wait for him here," she replied heatedly, trying to hide her agitation.
"Perfect excuse," Jade seated herself next to Artemis. "Red Arrow in there?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"Well, is Nightwing in there?"
"If you want to know so badly, go find out yourself," Artemis shot back, then winced at the harshness of her words. She really needed to work on hiding her emotions. Jade just raised an eyebrow.
"Calm down. I was just thinking that if Nightwing is in there, Dad probably asked Red Arrow to come too. You know how he hates having a single teenager trying to lord over him."
"Nightwing has never forgotten his place under Dad," Artemis looked away from Jade and rose to her feet, taking a few paces around the room.
"Dad would never let him forget it."
The younger sister finally looked back towards the older. "Just because he doesn't have the same rank as Father yet doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's doing. He's not afraid of him either."
"You're right. Who knows how long it will be till we're all sent away from here?"
A puzzled expression crossed Artemis' face. "What do you mean?"
"Come on, Art. Why do you think Batman has been sending his right hand sidekick here every week? It's not so that he can check you out, that's for sure."
Artemis pretended not to hear her last comment and instead asked, "Are you saying that Nightwing is going to... take Dad's position?"
"It's only a matter of time," Jade leapt from her seated position and started making her way back down the hallway. "And how long Dad can keep his head for."
Jade left Artemis to her own thoughts.
She sat in the silence and pondered Jade's words. If Nightwing took over, would they really be forced to leave? That couldn't be. This was her father's job; they would have no where else to go. The question that bothered her most was why her father would be sent away at all. Was it really going that badly with the board members?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the conference room doors slamming open. She shrunk back against the wall, trying to stay out of the way of the Shadows. Red Arrow was first to emerge. He was walking beside Icon and speaking in a low voice. Artemis caught bits of what he was saying.
"It's not right, Icon. Soon there'll be no line at all, and when that day comes, I'm-" his voice faded as the two distanced themselves from where she was positioned. Sensei, Hook, and Black Spider came next, Sensei speaking louder than Red Arrow had been. "Teenagers coming here and telling us how to run our organization! Ha! That is a joke that cannot be beaten. If he thinks we will settle for this than it is time for new leadership. I have already heard from-" his voice trailed off as well, and the other members poured out in silence. When they were all gone, Artemis slipped in through the conference room doors.
"Dad?"
Sportsmaster turned and gave his daughter a smile. She rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"
"Daddy's had a hard day of meetings, Artemis," he shot a hard glance in the other direction, and Artemis noticed for the first time that Nightwing was still in a corner, watching the two.
"If you have nothing else to say, Sportsmaster, I'll be leaving."
Her dad nodded and Nightwing quit the room. She watched him go, then turned back to her father.
"We're short on kitchen hands today. I'm too busy to find anyone else to help, so please report there at 5:30 and just do what ever they tell you to."
Artemis was nonplussed. He had asked her to do things for him before, but never anything this degrading. "Um, do I have to? I mean, working in the kitchen is for hired-"
"Don't make me tell you again," he interrupted, picking up his papers and preparing to leave the room. "And remember, no talking to anyone. If I catch you communicating with-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," It was Artemis' turn to interrupt. Sportsmaster cast a penetrating gaze on her. "This is serious, Artemis. Things are getting... difficult within our organization. Danger is every where."
She left the room without answering, but thought over what he could have meant. It almost sounded like an implication of mistrust within the team.
She pondered this further as she walked down the silent hall to her family's personal quarters. She frowned in annoyance at a flickering light that illuminated the hallway. Combined with the silence, it provided an eerie atmosphere as she came nearer to her door. It flickered a few more times, then went out. Artemis was left in near darkness. She huffed in vexation. Just then she saw a guard round the corner and start making his way towards her. She was about to call to him when a taser caught onto his back and electrocuted him till he fell to the ground, unconscious. She resisted the urge to scream and backed into the nearest storage room, watching through the cracked door.
A shadowy figure appeared just in front of the storage room, surveying the inert guard. Another man appeared behind him, but it was too dark to distinguish any of his features. Artemis breath hitched as he unsheathed a katana and prepared to strike the guard.
"You there, halt!"
Another guard now appeared and dove to protect the unconscious one. His nobility cost him as he was easily subdued by one of the men. His gun clattered to the floor and he was held by his collar and beaten by the large fist of his enemy. He cried out in pain as he was thrown against a wall, then again when his assailant hurled himself at him and punched him again and again.
Artemis' blood boiled. If this man died, no one would ever know of his courage in trying to save his comrade. It wasn't fair. Her eyes suddenly landed on an object a few inches away. Her fingers crept towards it, feeling that it was cold stone. The least she could do for this hero was distract his enemy so he could live, no matter what happened to her. Her heart beat faster as she raised her arm, poised to hurl it at the intruder.
Two strong arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, one hand clamping over her mouth to muffle her scream. She was pulled back into the chest of another, and nearly started shaking when a cheek was pressed to hers and a hoarse voice whispered in her ear, "It's just me."
She relaxed a little but her breathing was still shallow.
"Nightwing, let me go! We have to help that man!" She tried to yell as quietly as she could. "They'll kill him!"
"We have to be patient," he hissed, still holding her back with an iron grip. "If we give ourselves away now, many more could be killed and we'll never know their motives."
"But it's not fair! He was willing to sacrifice himself to save another, and now we can do something to save him! You're telling me we're just gonna-" she was cut off by Nightwing's hand covering her mouth once more. She resisted the urge to bite him, then suddenly realized why his whole body had become tense.
The silhouette of a man was in the doorway, listening for a sound. Artemis mentally kicked herself for having been too loud. As he slowly pushed the door open, Nightwing silently pulled her farther into the shadows. His grip on her was very tight now, and she could feel his heart pounding against hers. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not give them away with her exasperated breathing. She was no longer fighting against Nightwing's hold on her, but her hands had found his and were probably breaking every finger.
Silence shrouded the little storage room, and the tense atmosphere produced beads of perspiration on her forehead. Suddenly, the second intruder barked hoarsely, "We don't have time for this. He's been expecting us and we only have a limited amount of time."
The intruder was mere feet from where Artemis and Nightwing were hiding. He turned and stalked out of the room, following his companion. The hidden pair simultaneously released the breath they'd been holding. Artemis realized how painful Nightwing's grip had become and gritted her teeth as he released her. "Stay hidden," he whispered, and silently leapt from their hiding place to trail the men.
She involuntarily shivered as she sat in the lonely room. It felt as if hours had passed when Nightwing finally returned. She saw him through the door, inspecting the two unconscious guards. She cautiously rose to her feet and joined him. He took a radio from his utility belt and ordered a paramedic and stretchers to their location. "Are they going to be okay?" Artemis furrowed her brow. "They should be alright after some treatment. This one got the worst of it," he motioned to the brave guard who had tried to stop the intruders. "It isn't fair," she mumbled. "He was only trying to save his friend from being killed."
"Sometimes we must endure the injustice, no matter how much it burns inside of us. Good heroes use their minds as well as their bodies. It's always best to wait for the opportune moment to act."
"Did you catch them? Did you find out what they wanted? Did you tell my father?"
Nightwing sighed. "I was able to confirm a lead I've been following for awhile now. They didn't know I trailed them, and no one ever should. I'm sorry, Artemis, but you can't tell your father about this."
Artemis felt confused, and somewhat hurt. Did he not trust him? She could tell by Nightwing's vague explanation that he was hiding something, probably many things, from her. But whether it was the feeling she had when he was as close to her as he was now, or that they had just shared in an unexpected adventure together, something made her decide that she would trust him, and whatever he decided was the wisest choice. So she nodded silently just as the EMT arrived to take the men to the infirmary.
"No one should know you were here," Nightwing whispered to her as she reached her room. It reminded her of her father's warning not to talk to anyone. She glanced at the clock hung on the wall opposite her. She had to be at the kitchen in 20 minutes. Nightwing turned to attend the other men, when Artemis stopped him. "Nightwing," he turned around with a quizzical look. "Thank you for, you know, protecting me." He gave her a small smile.
"My pleasure."
oOo
Yea! New year, new story! This storyline has been formulating in my brain for months, and I'm finally going to release it! If you have any questions about this AU, be sure to ask me! I hope it's not too confusing.
P.S. I'll be putting random Justice League facts at the end of every chapter starting with chapter 2!