It was supposed to be a simple recon mission in Bialya, but recon hardly ever ends up being just that and it goes double for anything taking place in Bialya. Still the three members of the team on this particular mission, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, and Artemis, thought that they would last longer than sixty seconds.
They were watching a warehouse guarded by Queen Bee's men from a couple sand dunes away when Miss Martian established their mind link, and suddenly all three were gripping their heads in pain.
"Ow, my head" Wally groaned as he picked himself up off the dirt covered ground and M'gann did the same only a few feet away.
"What, ugh hello Megan! It was Psimon!" The martian exclaimed, lightly hitting herself on the side of her head. "I should've known not to use the mind link" she cursed herself and Wally dusted himself off.
"Don't beat yourself up about it, where are we anyway?" He asked as he looked around.
They were no longer in the desert, but in a dark hallway with a dirt floor and dirt walls. It was empty except for the torches which hung on the walls every few feet, giving off just enough light to see.
"Not sure, but why would anyone leave us in the middle of a hallway?" M'gann asked
"Maybe they thought we were dead" Wally joked but that was when he realized something was off about this situation and began looking around frantically. "Wait, where's Artemis?" He asked and M'gann looked around too, but the blond archer was nowhere to be seen.
"Still nothing" Robin muttered under his breath, it had been five hours since half the team was scheduled to return from Bialya. Obviously missions run later than expected all the time so no one was too worried, however after four hours they tried radioing the three and were met with nothing but static.
"Queen Bee possesses the technology necessary for intercepting our radio transmissions, perhaps they have silenced their radios" Aqualad suggested but Robin shook his head.
"If the radios were off it would be silent on the other end, not static. The fact that they're still on is what worries me." Robin admitted and Aqualad nodded, understanding his friends concern.
Truthfully the leader was starting to worry himself, he knew that his teammates running late was typical in their line of work, even five hours late. What worried him was that they were running five hours late from a mission in Bialya. He knew they all should've gone, but there was another situation earlier over at Cadmus which just could not wait, so he had been forced to split the team in two. The Cadmus issue ended up being less of a problem than originally thought, and the three boys had returned to the cave three hours ago.
"Give them one more hour, if they do not return we shall go after them" the atlantian ordered.
Having grabbed one of the torches off the wall M'gann and Wally were walking through the hallway, which seemed like it would never end. It twisted and curved at places but there were never any forks in the path.
"Ok what hallway is this long?" Wally finally questioned but he got no answer, and looked behind him to see that his teammate had stooped.
"M'gann?" He asked, instead of responding to him she reached out and grabbed something, and that's when he realized that he had walked right past a door.
M'gann was turning the knob, furiously trying to open the wooden door but it was no use. Without a word Wally handed her the torch before clasping his hands together in one fist and slamming his shoulder into the door, but it still wouldn't budge.
"Man, that things stronger than it looks" he said after his third failed attempt to break down the door.
"I just hope no guards heard us" M'gann said as she handed the torch back to Wally who shook his head.
"We've been wandering around here forever and haven't passed one person, I'm starting to think we're the only ones here" he said, in the back of his mind Wally was aware that something was off not only about this place, but about him as well. He knew himself well enough to know that he should be taking advantage of being alone with M'gann but he couldn't tear his focus from Artemis. Where is she? Is she ok? Did she escape before he and M'gann even woke up and go for help? Was she wandering lost in these tunnels too? Black Canary was right, he is in denial.
"What did you do to them?" Queen Bee questioned when she walked into the warehouse only to find Psimon standing over three bodies, each one of them a member of the team of sidekicks who had been foiling so many of their plans lately.
"I have sent them on a trip" Psimon cryptically explained, an evil smile spreading across his face. "They came here, presumably looking for the nuclear missiles" the telepath continued and soon Queen Bee's grin matched his own.
"The others?" She asked, knowing very well that these three were not the full team, nor was the one member the light needed among them.
"Patients my dear, in no time at all the others will come searching for their friends, and we will have what we're after" Psimon assured her before his wicked smile widened just enough to show his teeth.
The hour Kaldur had given passed and by that time Connor was just about out of patients, he wanted to go after M'gann. So the three of them loaded onto the super cycle and headed off to Bialya. By the time they got there it was nearly day break and in the early morning sun Connor caught a glimpse of something glaring in the light and so without a word he flew down towards it, only to discover it was the bioship.
"Did Miss M forget the camouflage?" Robin asked almost angrily as Superboy hoped off their vehicle
"I don't think so. The bioship is a lot like sphere, she has a mind of her own." He explained before he rushed inside, Robin and Aqualad followed and inside it was completely empty.
Superboy wanted to punch something, but he couldn't. He wouldn't punch the bioship, that would be like punching sphere or any one of his friends. So with nothing solid which he could possibly hit he turned on his heel and walked down the ramp of the ship, outside he began vigorously pounding a nearby boulder.
The sounds of Superboy's anger being vented in the distance could still be heard from the ship where Aqualad and Robin were debating their next course of action.
Wally and M'gann passed a few other doors, all of which were locked, and still hadn't seen any sign or Artemis.
"What do you think happened to Artemis?" Wally finally asked, his voice so low that it could barely be heard by the Martian.
"I'm not sure, I tried reaching out to her telepathically but this place must be messing with my powers, it felt like she was right next to me" she admitted before she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Wait a minute…" she said to herself as she thought, Wally watched the look on her face as if he could see the two puzzle pieces in her mind finally clicking together before she gasped. "I know where we are!" She exclaimed, Wally furrowed his brow as he looked around, trying to figure out what was in the empty hallway that could've led M'gann to any sort of conclusion as to their location.
M'gann didn't have to read his mind to know that he didn't understand, secretly she couldn't believe it had taken her this long to understand herself.
"Psimon mentally attacked us while I was in the middle of establishing the mind link, he must have used the link to trap us" she began to explain
"Trap us where?" Wally asked but just after he asked it hit him on where
"In Artemis's mind" M'gann told him.
Luckily for the remainder of the team Robin was able to track their missing teammates using the locators in the radios.
"In there" Robin announced when the warehouse came into view.
"Lets go" Superboy said, rubbing a fist against his open hand as he stood from their hiding place behind a sand dune but Aqualad pulled him back down.
"We must be cautious, we do not yet know what we will find in there" he explained before rising up just enough to peek over the dune and study the outside of the warehouse.
It was a small building made of concrete bricks and had two guards posted at every entrance, most likely it was a military base which also meant that it was equipped with alarms and a multitude of extra weapons.
"Robin see if you can disable any alarms" Aqualad ordered and in a second Robin was busy typing away on his wrist computer, the little angry symbols of his face one by one turning to devilish grins.
"And…. done!" He announced triumphantly.
"Excellent" Aqualad commended and so with that done three boys cautiously made their way down to the warehouse, finally stopping when they found themselves hiding behind a truck for cover.
Robin released a smoke pellet filled with knock out gas and in no time the two guards at the main entrance were laying unconscious on the ground.
The three boys rushed inside.
"Is it me or does Artemis's mind look like a never ending medieval prison?" Wally asked as he and M'gann continued to walk, still with no sign of Artemis.
"Hopefully Psimon did this" M'gann commented as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"What do you mean?" Wally questioned
"When a person enters their own mind without realizing it they become who they really are on the inside and they have no control over the surroundings, but if Psimon didn't do this then…" M'gann trailed off but Wally understood what she was saying, if Psimon didn't so this then it meant that this was what Artemis's mind looked like all the time, a dark prison with a countless number of locked door.
Just then they stopped, they had finally reached the end of the hallway and in front of them was another door. All the doors they had passed so far were made of wood that appeared to be rotting, but this one was different. It was made of iron and had a tiny, barred, window too high for both Wally and M'gann to see through. Hesitantly Wally reached out for the handle, expecting it to be locked like all the others, but it wasn't. Much to his surprise the cast iron door opened with a squeak of it's hinges, and Wally dropped the torch at the sight of what was inside.
There, kneeling on the ground with her hands chained to the floor, was Artemis. She was wearing civilian clothes and staring absently at the floor. In less than an instant Wally was kneeling in front of her, behind him M'gann had picked up the torch but she didn't move from the doorway.
"Artemis!" Wally exclaimed in concern as he hit his knees.
The second he said her name Artemis snapped her head up to look at him, revealing that despite the civilian clothing she was still wearing her mask. Putting a hand on her shoulder Wally frantically searched the chains for a keyhole but they were embedded deep in the dirt, and keyhole was long buried.
"Locked" Artemis whispered, Wally only now noticed how surprised she looked. "Locked" she repeated quietly.
"Locked? Artemis the door was open" he told her in confusion but she just continued to stare past him at the door.
"Locked" she whispered again
"I was afraid of this" M'gann's soft voice cut in as she took a step closer to her teammates "This is who Artemis really is" she said, Wally sent an annoyed glare over his shoulder at her, before his face softened at the realization she was right.
He turned back to Artemis who was still looking past him "Artemis, who did this to you?" He questioned, terrified of the answer. She blinked her attention over to the red head in front of her, his eyes full of concern as he patiently awaited her answer, but she didn't give one.
"I heard a clicking sound, about two weeks ago, I thought it was the lock but, then I thought, it couldn't have been…" she stuttered out as if she were still processing the fact that the door was unlocked.
"Two weeks? Artemis how long have you been in here?" Wally asked, up until now he had been hoping that this was all a result of Psimon trapping them but it wasn't, Artemis had somehow been a prisoner in her own mind for much longer.
"Six years" Artemis answered, both of her friends gasped, before a look of determination overtook Wally's face and he got up, snatched the torch from M'gann, and held it over the chains in an attempt to melt them.
"Don't worry we're getting you out" he told her and for the first time since they had opened the door Artemis smiled.
"I know" she said contently, her voice almost a whisper.
The next thing Wally knew he was waking up in the med bay of the cave. Turning his head he saw Miss Martian sitting up on a bed next to his and when he turned his head to the other side he saw Artemis laying in a bed of her own, looking back at him.
"What happened?" She asked as she sat up.
"You don't remember?" M'gann questioned but Artemis shook her head
"The last thing I remember is you saying you were going to establish the mind link" the archer answered as Wally sat up, just now noticing Connor sitting in a chair next to M'gann's bed.
"We found you guys unconscious in Queen Bee's warehouse. Psimon and her were after me, something to do with Cadmus. You guys were six hours late returning then it took us another three to find you and get you to the bioship. You've been here in the med bay for about an hour and a half, but god knows how long you were out for before that" Connor informed them, they all nodded, knowing they had been out the whole time.
"We better go tell Batman the three of us are ok" M'gann said as she stood up, Wally and Artemis both nodded and said that they'd be along in a minute.
"You woke us up didn't you?" Wally asked once the martian and teen of steel were gone and he and Artemis were alone.
"Don't know what you're talking about Wallman" she remarked but he smirked, she couldn't fool him.
Sighing upon realizing not only that Wally saw right through her but that she actually wanted to tell him, and more importantly he actually wanted to know, Artemis swung her legs over the side of her bed and faced the young speedster.
"I did it" she confessed, looking down at her feet as she felt his surprised and slightly confused gaze fixated on her. " I locked myself up. I didn't mean to, I didn't even realize what it looked like until the door was unlocked." She confessed, Wally listened intently.
"Wait but you, that imprisoned version of you, said the door was unlocked two weeks ago" Wally reminded her and she smiled slightly, confirming that it was true. "Artemis what happened two weeks ago?" He asked and when she looked up there was a smirk on her face.
"You really want to know?" She asked and he nodded, he desperately wanted to know what or who could've been inside her mind just two weeks ago.
A blush overtook Artemis's face, she never in a million years thought she would actually tell Wally what something so small had done to her, what big of an impact it really had.
"Two weeks ago was when Red Arrow decided to join the team, and when we were in the bioship you told me that I don't have anything to prove." She began, taking a moment to watch for his reaction, and to decide if she was ready or not to tell him about her family, she decided no. "Look I know I don't talk much about my personal life, and I promise that some day I will, but for now lets just say that I've been alone, a lot. For the past six years I've been trying to prove so many different things to so many different people and I didn't even realize half of it until you said that." She admitted, Wally's face was now almost completely dumbstruck, he had been so afraid that comment would sound stupid when he said it and had been relieved when she said it sounded fine out loud, but he never could've thought it would have such an impact on her.
Artemis stood up, knowing that now that Batman knew she was awake it was only a matter of time before Green Arrow showed up to question her on what happened.
"Wait" Wally called when she turned to leave, though he didn't expect her to actually turn back "when we were in your mind I promised we'd get you out of those chains, how do we do that?" He questioned and Artemis smiled
"Just stick around" she answered.