For Your Own Good
"This is for your own good, Baby Girl." Sportsmaster says as he kicks her in the stomach.
"Please Daddy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make a mistake. I'll do better." A nine year old Artemis pleads.
"Why didn't you stop Jade from leaving?"
"I tried Daddy. I really did. She almost took me too but she said I'd slow her down."
'I wish Jade had taken you away from me, Baby Girl.' Sportsmaster thinks as he sends another harsh kick to the child's back.
"Please Daddy."
"You will obey me. We will go find Jade and she will see what happens when she doesn't listen."
With that said a swift slap to the child causes her to fall to the ground unconscious.
"I'm so sorry you had to be dragged into this life. I will make you hate me if I have to. You will leave this so you don't suffer the same fate as I had to."
He picks up the nine year old girl and carries her to the bathroom where he cleans all the blood off and stitch up some cuts. He puts her in her pajamas and tucks her in the bedroom with the poster of Alice in Wonderland. He brushes away some stray hair from her face before heading into the kitchen and grabbing a beer. Plopping down on the couch he turns on the tv to see what the news has about him.
'This just in, a mysterious figure was spotted in Gotham fighting Joker. Eye witnesses say they are certain it was not Batman. Some said the figure looked like a female but the mask obscured their view.'
"Jade? At least she's left. Now I just need to convince Artemis."
He finishes off the beer and heads to his room. He looks at the last picture of them all together. Paula was holding Artemis and he had one hand around her waist while his other hand rested on Jade's shoulder. They were all smiling like a happy family. Then the mission went wrong and he had to make a deal with the Shadows. Paula still had to go to prison while he had to give one of his kids to the Shadows; trained to kill just like he was.
"They aren't bargaining chips. I will make Artemis leave one way or another."
He fell down on the bed for an unrestful sleep.
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"Dad, I don't think I can do this."
"You will do it. This is what I trained you to do."
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"You will obey me."
Artemis runs as fast as she can away from father. Her legs are longer and meant for running. Sportsmaster gives her a head start before racing after her. Using his own bow he starts shooting arrows at her as she runs through the slums of Gotham. He gets a lucky shot and hits her in the shoulder with an arrow. She stays on her feet but the use of her arm is greatly inhibited. She continues running as fast as she can as her father catches up to her. She makes a rash decision and runs toward her friend Dick's house. She forces herself to run harder and faster as she notices her father slowing down. She manages to pull out her cheap excuse for a phone and speed dials Wayne Manor.
"Wayne Manor, to whom am I speaking with?"
"Alfred, can I talk with Dick please? It's urgent." She huffs out.
"Ah, Miss Crock, I shall have him on soon."
"Thanks."
She looks behind her to see Sportsmaster a good hundred meters or so behind her. She turns forward and keeps running towards the Manor just as she hears Dick's voice on her phone.
"Hey Arty, what's up?"
"I need you to be waiting by the gate to let me in. I am so dead if I get caught. Please, he's at least a hundred meters behind me. I need help. I'm on my way to the manor now. Just have the gates ready for me to get in and keep him out."
"Sure. I'll be waiting for you."
She hangs up her phone and pushes herself faster. The Manor comes into sight. She looks behind her again to see Sportsmaster had gained some ground on her. The gates are two hundred meters away and she can see Dick standing with one open ready for her. She turns off her mind that's telling her burning muscles to stop and turns on her heart knowing that she's so close she can't stop now. With that small boost she sprints as fast as she can through the gates and watches as Dick slams them shut just as Sportsmaster smashes into them. She falls to the ground from exhaustion and cries out as she lodges the arrow further into her shoulder.
"Artemis!" Dick yells as he runs to her. He lifts her up and carries her into the house.
"Alfred, I need your help, now!"
"What is it young Master?" He asks stepping out of the kitchen. He quickly takes the girl out of his Master's arms and takes her to the infirmary. Bruce walks in from all the noise and sees the bloody girl on the table.
"Dick, what's going on?"
"Sportsmaster."
"Where is he now?"
"Well, just as I closed the gate he ran right into it. I don't know exactly where he is now. I just had to bring her in here."
"I am afraid we are going to have to push the arrow through her shoulder, Sir."
"Whatever it takes Alfred. We need to save her."
Alfred pushes the arrow through until the head is all the way through her shoulder before snapping it off. He stitches up the wound and wraps it to slow the bleeding. The white slowly turns to a light pink and within ten minutes completely colors it in maroon red. He removes the gauze and wraps it with clean gauze. He puts more pressure on it so slow the bleeding. After an hour the bleeding finally stops. Bruce heads back to his office preparing for a meeting with Queen Industries the following day. Alfred bids goodbye to Dick as he heads back to cleaning. Dick sits down in a chair by Artemis's bed and takes her cold hand into his.
"You're safe now Artemis. He can't hurt you anymore."
"It's easier than you'd think to sneak up on a bat."
Dick flies around in a fighting stance at the raspy voice. Sportsmaster stands their without his mask on. His position screams composure even for having run three miles at full sprint across Gotham.
"You aren't getting her back."
"Just give her this. Don't let her know about me being here. Tomorrow I'm heading to GCPD to turn myself in. I needed her to be in good arms before I left. Wipe her memory of me; of everything. I don't want her to remember everything I made her suffer through. Take good care of my Baby Girl, Richard. She's tough but she's broken. Show her your way, not mine."
"What's going on?"
"This is for her own good. She can't stay with me. The Shadows can't get their hands on her. Protect her with your life. I couldn't find the courage to protect either of my daughters so I scared them away. I made them hate me, so they wouldn't have to suffer like I did."
"Why?"
"It's for their own good. Just tell her that."
Sportsmaster walks out of the room and heads down to the Gotham PD. He puts his mask on and pulls out a picture of his Baby Girl. One tear involuntarily falls as he neatly folds it and places it in his pocket.
"This is for their own good."
Sportsmaster opens the door and sees twenty officers pull out their guns and aim them at him. He puts his hands up as five burly officers pull his arms behind his back and cuff him. They search him, removing the picture and take off his mask as they lead him to a cell.
'This is for your own good, Lawrence.' He thinks two days later as he is sentenced to death.
A/N: okay, so I always thought what if he did everything to Artemis and Jade so they would hate him and leave the business. Then I just kept making it more and more depressing until the very end where I just had to give it the tragedy. I probably won't continue this unless you want a sequel of how Artemis reacts but otherwise voila, I have finally written something. I am sososososososososososo sorry for not updating anything, all this week we had two a day XC practices and I didn't have any energy to do anything.
-Leo