A/N: I just want to thank everyone who reviews, favorited or followed my story so far. It may not be much but I it encouraged me to continue :)

Reviews:

Guest- I wanted to say thank you for voicing your opinion firstly and clear up a few things you pointed out. My oc wasn't adopted by Bruce but just taken in temporarily, as she will be going back forth between other members of the League everyone in awhile as Batman had mentioned. As for the fact that she was about 13 when she went undercover, you're right and I really don't think it's implausible or Mary Sueish considering that Dick was Robin at what 9 or 10? As well as a lot of characters in the DC universe who started becoming heroes at young ages so pretty much you're saying that it's implausible for them also when it isn't. And besides it's a Fanficton- not real. And lastly, you can't forget that Nightwing and Aqualad went behind everyone's back when they went undercover so it's obvious as to why they didn't know that someone else was already doing so. Also Aqualad has met my Oc on more than one occasion, just not Artemis, and it's only the Prologue so you can't expect for all that information to come out. But it will gradually so I hope this cleared everything up.

Anonymous- Thank you for your review and I hope this chapter does justice and keeps you hooked!

*** A quick note also that I'm not the best at writing action scenes which is all this chapter is so I hope I do some justice ***

Roy had never been one to fight girls. It wasn't ethical- moral- everything that went against him and his teachings from Green Arrow. But this was something new to him as the dark haired ten year old raced past him to deliver a kick aimed towards his head. He ducked, swinging his arms in front of him to block another assault of the skinny appendages, surprised at the amount of force behind them.

To the side he could make out his adopted father and mentor Oliver observing the fight with interested eyes, his mask long forgotten with the infamous Bat of Gotham by his side. Somewhere to the side he could make out Wally and Dick watching the fight as well, the duo looking rather smug as they had warned him that this girl was a force to be reckoned with- he had ignored it.

It wasn't until that moment that he realized what exactly they meant.

Feeling a well aimed leg hit his gut, the ginger haired male had experienced about enough, grabbing hold of her upturned leg and throwing her behind him. He looked back expecting her to be sprawled against the ground but to his surprise green eyes looked at him defiantly in amusement, her small body standing. He felt his mouth fall open when he took notice of his now missing yellow hat in her hands and behind them he heard Green Arrow laugh.

"I like her." Oliver smiled, directing the statement at Bruce. "I didn't know what to expect at first but she's definitely Oleander's kid."

"Told you she'd whoop you." Dick taunted off to the side and Wally laughed at the statement just as the fourteen year old flushed angrily at the duo.

"Shut up!" He growled, narrowing his eyes. "I just went easy on her, that's it."

But that didn't stop the infamous duo from their onslaught of taunting towards the oldest of their trio. The girl, who he had barely attempted remembering her name, watched the exchangement in amusement, making her way towards the male she had been staying with for the past month. Dick smiled at her when she came and Wally, who she had only met the week before put his arm around her. "Roy's upset cause he lost to you."

"I would be too if I lost to a ten year old." She said jokingly just as Roy scoffed at her. She would fit in with them just nicely he decided at that moment, realizing she wasn't like the other girls who would've hesitated at their rough bantering.

To the side Green Arrow and Batman made their way to the children. Roy, who had his arms crossed against his chest looked up at the large hand his mentor put on his shoulder. "So Roy since you finally met Stella, how do you feel about her staying with us for a bit from time to time?"

At the mention of such he looked at the younger girl. Stella, that was her name- now he remember, figuring it fit the green eyed girl well just from hearing it. The ginger scowled at the idea, shrugging and muttering a whatever as if it meant nothing. But he would admit he was interested and if he was going to se her more often that meant he could show her a piece of how he could really fight. Besides she didn't seem that bad and he had always wanted a little sister.

Not that he would admit it out loud.

Chapter One

Past Faces

Bialya

July 20, 09:08 pm EDT

Arsenal would never admit that he somewhat missed being in a team- that would go against his somewhat solo act ever since he had woken up a few months ago. It had and still was foreign to him, working alone, having grown used to having Green Arrow as his partner back when he was Speedy. And he would even admit to missing Dick and Wally- though he couldn't blame himself considering they had been the Troublesome Trio after all. And now one was gone and the remaining duo had grown apart due to his own stubbornness and a small fall out a few months back when he had joined the team.

Hell, his clone- the fake Roy- was even closer to Dick than the real him.

Landing on his feet, the ginger haired man squatted into a crouch, watching as the rest of the Alpha team landed beside him. Nightwing had landed in front of him, as quietly and swift as the blue bird symbol across his chest. Kid Flash, or rather the future kid as he never bothered to remember his name, appeared in an instant, a slight breeze passing by with his appearance. Ever since his slight outburst earlier he had been more or less quiet, something that wasn't common from what he could tell from the slight time observing- not that it was his problem. And lastly, he noticed Blue Beetle flying down to join them, having been the last one off the Bio-ship before team Beta flew off in camouflage, seemingly invisible in the night sky.

Before them, a large dense coverage of the jungle hid their location, allowing them to stay covert as the four of them watched a shipment of trucks making their way past them to a stop. They were at the edge of the jungle, a large cliff meeting towards the ocean hundreds of feet down. No one could survive such a drop- something they hoped the Light would realize when they put their plan into action.

Nightwing was in front of the small group, the closest to the foliage, crouching with a single fist held in the air as he waited for the signal- which Arsenal wasn't exactly sure was. Keeping his eyes on the targets, he felt his eyes drift back to Dick waiting for something before his eyes flickered back. There was a faint ripple near one of the trucks, gone before Roy actually got a good look, leaving behind something that he could barely make out.

A small device had now appeared on the truck, just as according to plan, flashing a barely noticeable red light before turning green only a few seconds later. A few of the other trucks before hand had a similar device, and he recognized it as the Nuclear Revisor, meant to disarm the warheads to be destroyed later on. Miss Martian had been given such a task considering her invisibility ability and he imagined the ripple had been her, the green girl flying around and placing the device on each truck.

Miss Martian to Nightwing. He heard the voice of M'gann echo inside his head as he slightly winced, still not used to her telepathic ability. All of the trucks have been marked with the Nuclear Revisor. We are set to go.

Affirmative, Miss Martian, Nightwing said, releasing the clenched fist in the air and swinging it to the right- their signal to advance. Moving forward, the group of four separated and Arsenal moved to his left, closer to the truck, shot a grappling hook from his metallic arm into one of the branches of a tree. He climbed up with the help of the thick line and at the top he glanced down at the large clearing, making out twelve trucks in total and large amount of guards ready at action. The clearing was rather large, dirt covering the ground as it seemed like there was nothing else despite Arsenal knowing differently. Beneath the cliff would be a base of operations to store the nuclear warheads until they were put to use, and he was sure that besides the men already guarding the trucks outside there were far more below them ready to assist when they planned their surprise attack.

In the middle of the clearing, he could make out a distinctive male in a dark trench coat, the hood of the clothing covering his head as unhealthy skin peeked through. Arsenal recognized him as Queen Bee's right hand man Psimon who possessed a similar power to the Martian telepathic wise. Shimmer and the Terror twins were there as well just as the mission had disclosed and Arsenal watched as Superboy and Aqualad disguised as guards blended in with a group of suited men, the two guards they had taken the suits from knocked out behind a truck somewhere.

A shout was heard from one of the men, and Arsenal took that as his signal to proceed as Aqualad and Supeboy jumped into action themselves, ripping off their masks and attacking the closest guards next to them. With the plan in motion, Arsenal took off from the tree, landing somewhat in the clearing and knocking out a guard who aimed a gun at him. Stepping to the side, his metallic arm shifted to a gun of his own, placing an aim at two guards and knocking them back with a red blast. Kid Flash and Blue Beetle had already made their entrance along side him, and Nightwing was further across the clearing, holding against three guards. Team Beta was there as well scattered across the area, and Arsenal who got distracted, noticed as Tigress disarmed a guard behind him who had been ready to attack him. Swallowing his own pride, he nodded his head in gratitude as the girl returned it.

"You idiots!" Psimon had yelled, stopping Bart in his tracks as he skidding across the ground and pointed wildly at the man around him. "Capture them and make sure not one of them escapes!"

Turning as if to run, the pale man had only stopped at the sight of M'gnn in front of him as Superboy to her side fought against one of the Terror twins who didn't seem too happy in seeing him. Aqualad was busy himself, facing against the female one of the twins and having slight difficulty with her strength, Blue Beetle against the orange haired female a little ways away. The ginger aimed another blast at one of the dark clad men, and kicked another only for two more to come his way. Reinforcements had already begun to make their way up from below them and Arsenal ducked when a blast of energy whizzed by him, enjoying the slight rush. It had been a while since his last mission, the last one being when he had been kicked off the team courtesy of Nightwing.

He enjoyed the action, as he aimed a blast at three men in a row, grunts accompanying their fall into the dirt covered ground. It wasn't long until another got the upper hand on him, pulling out a knife and tackeling him as they fought for dominance only to pause slightly at Artemis shouting at him. At first he couldn't understand her or hear her, rather hard to do so considering the current situation along with the fact that he was wresting with someone. Pushing the male back so that he stumbled, Arsenal kicked him away from himself and shot a red beam at the guard as he heard the blond's voice in his head now shouting to the point it hurt. Behind you!

But it was too late, and Roy found himself knocked over, a solid foot meeting his face as he stumbled. Regaining his balance took a moment and he barely missed a blast from a gun to his side before he aimed blindly around him.

Before him a silhouette of a hooded figure stood in front of him, the darkness around them making it almost difficult to make them out as they blended in due to their skin tight suit. A utility belt wrapped around the seemingly feminine waist and more weapons strapped to her body stood out to his masked eyes. A black mask covered the bottom of her face and startling violet eyes that could not have been seen on the hologram earlier stared back at him as she ran at him. Guys, Roy found himself calling, I think I found the target.

Dodging a powerful kick, Arsenal moved again, throwing a punch that she missed. Do not pursue, Arsenal. Aqualad said, his voice echoing in the ginger's head. Leave Belladonna to Nightwing.

Yeah well it's pretty tough considering it seems like she's trying to kill me. He grit out, grabbing her arm and throwing her over him, shooting a blast at her that she dodged. Isn't she supposed to be going with the plan?

She is going with the plan. Nightwing seemed to emphasize. She has to make it as believable as she can so that no one will question anything. Arsenal glanced ever so slightly at the hero in question who had gotten close to him in the fray as he helped Aqualad take down Tuppence, shooting a shock of electricity through her as she fell like a tree.

Frowning at the fact, the ginger supposed there was no reason to hold back like he had thought before, considering the girl sure as hell wasn't as she threw one of the many knives across her body at him. Belladonna had grabbed onto his arm just as he was ready to shoot once again, aiming it towards Blue Beetle not too far away right before flipping him. Distracted with his own opponents, the Hispanic teen had been too late in realizing the blast aimed at him, skidding against the ground from the impact. Getting up the hero glared at the ginger before rolling across the ground to avoid a beam coming his way. What the hell, Arsenal?

Not my fault! He retorted back as the violet eyed girl threw a dark sphere his way, running from the familiar weapon just as it exploded, throwing him off balance. Arsenal growled in annoyance- he just had to get the world class assassin who was trying to kill him, didn't he? Wasn't she supposed to be making this easy? Climbing back onto his feet, his eyes widened as Belladonna came jumping through the smoke of the explosion at him, landing on his shoulders and attempting to take him down to the ground.

Grabbing onto the the girl's legs, he pulled her off with a yell, throwing her to the side only for his arm to spark up just as he attempted aiming a blast at her. He looked down to find a chip on it, having not realized she managed to put in on him as he ripped the device off. Ready to aim another blast, he paused just as the metallic limb malfunctioned and stopped all together with a burst of electricity, charring the metal much to his chagrin. "Oh sh-" He started, skidding back as he dodged a series of limbs attacking him. Belladonna had lifted a leg to aim at his head, and Roy responded to such, raising an arm to block it only for the girl to stop halfway. She brought her leg down swiftly and grabbed hold of his arms so suddenly he hesitated too soon as he saw what she planned, flipping his limbs behind him kickeding under his feet. He gave way under his weight as his eyes widened at the move and he felt himself slowly coliding with the ground with the female on top, her elbow digging into the back is his neck.

Attempting to get over the surprise, he pushed off the ground quickly as he shook off the assassin, getting his bearings together as he stood up shakily. Feeling shaken up for reasons he could barely explain, he barely missed it when he turned and saw the same violet eyes coming at him. He was too late and feeling his body being kicked back he could see the amusement circling in the female's eyes as he collided with a body behind him.

Groaning, Roy felt himself being pushed off of the figure, recognizing Dick's voice as he shouted at him in his head. He could hear a blast go off around them, and he felt himself pulled away, the momentum bringing him back to his feet. Not that it mattered at the moment as his mind kept rewinding, thinking back to the girl and looking around to see if he could make her out. But she was gone, darting through the bodies of fighting figures. The move has been nothing fancy, a simple diversion to distract him from her real motive of kicking out from under him. Not many people used moves like that however, besides maybe him and Dick who he had showed such moves to, but this one had been different- had had known that move.

That was his move.

The familiar glint of amusement he saw in those eyes continued to circle in his mind as he put it together.

Nightwing glanced at the group of men surrounding both him and Arsenal, swords and guns ready at use as the duo stood back to back. For a moment, Dick noticed that the ginger looked slightly out of it, though he supposed that was just a side affect from the blow he had just taken. He glanced down at the metallic hand that was now black instead of silver. "That thing still work?"

"Probably not," Roy grinned despite the fact that it did not match the tone of his voice, "but I can thank Belladonna for that later on I guess."

"Try not to take it to heart." Dick joked, taking out his escrima sticks and placing them in front of him before moving forward to attack. He swiped at one of the guards, meeting in collision with its own sword as he pushed on him and aimed a kick to his side and using the force to throw a second one to his face as he fell back. Behind him, Arsenal had grabbed a small grenade from his belt and thrown it at a group of men before them as he grabbed another coming up behind him in a headlock. Their eyes met for a moment and nostalgia had suddenly fillled the dark haired hero.

Arsenal's voice sounded from behind him as they came back to back again. "Can I ask you something?"

Dick grunted as he kicked a guard down. "Now?"

But Arsenal seemed insistent on ignoring the tone of his question, asking either way. "What do you think about that Belladonna girl?"

Nightwing rose a hidden eyebrow at the question- what had brought that up? "Not sure. Haven't had the pleasure of being her opponent yet but from the toll you took I'm sure she's wonderful." Behind him he heard the ginger scoff and Dick smirked, throwing a Wing- Ding * at one of the guards as it embedded in his suit and exploded with a gas. He kicked another and collided with the next one, their sword clashing with his escrima sticks. He glanced at Roy slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"She seems familiar." Was the simple answer he provided, dodging a sword that slashed at him and punching the male.

"How," he managed out, pausing with a yell as he missed a beam shot at him before continuing, "so?"

For a moment there was no reply and Dick twisted to throw a guard over his back and onto the dirt covered terrain, looking at Arsenal to see the male preoccupied, a thoughtful look on his face. And then, "I'm not sure. You know what I mean?"

Dick did not know but he rejected the thought. "I have no idea what you're taking about." The eighteen year old said dryly.

"There was a move." At this, Dick found himself paying more attention as he jumped on a guard and used the momentum to spin slightly in the air as he aimed a powerful kick at another. "She- Belladonna did a move that I made, that I showed you and Wally and-"

"So?" Nightwing found himself bitting out, striking the guard in front of him with more force than he had originally intended. They were treading into a dangerous topic for the dark haired hero, something Roy should know when it came to mentioning their deceased friend- nonetheless her name. Speaking it was like taboo for all of them. "It's a coincidence."

Arsenal let out an agrivated sigh as he was kicked to the ground and jumped to his feet in an instant. "I don't know Di- Nightwing. That was one of my first moves I made up- it was one of the ones I showed you guys during our first years as Protégés and she had done it perfectly like I had made it- step by step."

"What exactly are you trying to get at Arsenal?" Nightwing asked, narrowing his eyes as his head spun to look at the said male, distracted to the point a knife slashed his arm. Dick turned, raising his escrism sticks in an arcdownward to push back the male.

"I-"

"She had green eyes- not purple."

"Genetic engineering."

He could barely believe his ears. "She died in front of us Roy!"

Arsenal winced at the reminder of such- he had not been been there however, the other Roy had as he had already been missing by that point and replaced by the clone. When he had woken up, eight years later, the shock of hearing such had almost been too much for him and in a way she wasn't dead to him. He had no memory of such, there for was no proof for him, and here he had this girl who knew his moves. That was no coincidence to him.

"You mean like Jason?" He said, the words slipping out before he could stop them. "Last I checked hes still alive."

Pausing wide eyed, Nightwing looked back at the male beside him so fast he worried he would get whiplash. The situation on Jason had been secret, something Bataman and him had learned of a year earlier as a rumor when a man wearing a red hood had gone on a rampage and killed 83 people. It had not been a definite, after all he had died in Batman's arms, but they had been investigating into it for the past year or so with not much of a lead. He twisted away from another sword and opened his mouth before Arsenal beat him to the punch. "You should really update the fire wall on the bat computer." He said, banging his hand on his metallic one just as it released a red beam. He grinned, glad it was working again. "I may not be as good as you or Robin but I'm still pretty good at hacking. How do you think I've been surviving on my own so far?"

Nightwing stayed shut at that, kicking back a guard in front of him and making his way through the opening with Arsenal guarding his back. The ginger aimed a beam at a guard in front of them as he began making his way opposite of Dick. "Listen I'm not saying it's her, but I don't believe in coincidences."

And then he had been gone, the hero looking back at the spot Arsenal had just been in a moment ago, narrowing his eyes. She had been filling his dreams as of more recently due to Wally's death, along with his parent's and Jason's, and Nightwing had been torments from them. He clenched his jaw at Roy's thoughts.

Nightwing, he heard Superboy call through the mind link, a little help here.

At the mention of such, Nightwing turned his attention from the men attacking, grabbing an arm as one pulled out a gun and twisted it behind his back. He glanced at Superboy, who was across the clearing towards the cliff as planned, deflecting a knife aimed at him by none other than their target and Roy's topic of conversation only a moment ago. The Kryptonian had flung her away, only for her to land on her feet and defend against his fists. Tommy was on the floor passed out with a metallic collar around his thick neck near them and him and Aqualad had taken down his sister not too long. He supposed the others were in a similiar position.

He noticed the dark haired teen was seemingly holding back ever so slightly and despite this Belladonna was holding up quite well, not that he was specifically surprised. He aimed an escrima stick at one of the men in front of him, knocking him out and side stepping another only to flip him over his back. Another two came at him. A little busy at the moment, he managed to grit out. Give me some time.

But time was running out and he knew that himself, kicking the man in front of him, only for the other two around him to be suddenly knocked to the floor. Glancing up, he took notice of the yellow Kid Flash uniform that ran past him, away and over to Artemis and Roy who he also assisted. Nightwing looked back to the fight between Superboy and Belladonna, running over to them.

Miss Martian, he called through the mind link, Abort your current status and make your way to the Bio-ship to continue the plan in motion.

Acknowledged. He heard the Martian's voice in his head.

In front of him, he slid past a guard and pulled him down into his knees as he fell to the ground, the others around him in their own fight. He saw the girl take notice of him, a gleam in her eyes, and going with the plan he saw her pull out the weapon before he had a chance to stop her, coming up behind her to throw off her aim. The bullet trailed through the air from the gun she had taken out, and Superboy was too slow, moving and barely missing it as it imbedded into his shoulder. Yelling out in pain, the protege fell to the floor with a thud as the kryptonian laced bullet took its toll.

Nightwing glanced at his fallen friend, about to make his way over to him before a well aimed knife flew through the air and into the foliage behind him. Belladonna stood in front of him, violet eyes trained on him as she made her way to him in an offensive attack. They were closer to the edge by now, and he deflected a powerful kick to his side, taking out his escrima sticks once again and swiping at her head.

The two of them teetered at the edge of the cliff, twirling in a dangerous dance as if on a tightrope. She was fluid in her movements, as if like water, and she was strong, more so than her had expected- worthy of her well known name. He thought back to the conversation with Aqualad earlier, his words echoing in his mind as he dodged a swipe of her knife.

"Nightwing, you must be careful when facing Belladona."

Dick turned to Kaldur at the statement. "While I do not doubt your capabilities, I have met her on more than one occasion while I also infiltrated the Light and she will not be remorseful despite being on the same side as you. She is an assassin and will make the fight as believable as possible to make sure she gets out of there, even injuring the team."

Nightwing chucked dryly. "I don't doubt it but mentioning such, it would have been a good amount of information to have known that before the four of us had planned that mission secretly." There seemed to be something more to the statement.

"You are right." Kaldur agreed. "However that was our own fault for doing such behind everyones backs. It may have changed a good amount of things if we had known."

At that they both silenced, knowing full well what he had meant. If it hadn't been for that mission, Artemis and Wally would have probably still been in retirement and Wally may have still been alive.

Maybe.

Kaldur cleared his throat. "Despite that, it was also my fault for not realizing such. On the occasions that I had met her or worked along side her, she was rather quiet, stranger with how she she acted with me compared to the others." He frowned. "I had not any idea she could be a double agent. I had even been oblivious to her fighting style that was similar to many of the League members. I should have realized such."

Dodging a punch, Nightwing nearly missed a kick aimed at his side, the diversion move seeming eerily familiar. Aiming an ecrisma stick, he knocked her back a few steps, only for her to come forward again as she sweeped him from under his legs, landing on top of him and she brought a knife down. Moving his head, he grinned slightly at the masked girl, white teeth showing in the dark. "Nice try." He smirked, bringing his legs up to wrap around her neck as he pulled her down with a grunt of pain escaping her lips.

Making his way to his feet, Nightwing glanced at Belladonna as she did the same, moving towards him and elbowing his face. Twisting, he turned so that his back faced hers, and grabbing hold of her masked clad face, he pulled her over his shoulder, throwing her across the dirt as she rolled, her mask coming off, barely noticeable as she quickly gained her way to her feet.

With her back turned to him, Dick saw the opportunity as he glanced slightly. The team was overpowering the others, and the reinforcements were dwindling with just enough to catch sight of their fight if they glanced their way- enough witnesses to it.

Grabbing a Wing- Ding from his utility belt swiftly, Nightwing took a slight breath as he aimed. If he took it while her back was turned, he could aim it into her back, nothing too fatal but nonetheless painful- he should know.

"She knows she'll be injured in the process?" Nightwing had asked Kaldur earlier that day, observing her statistics and vital points on a hologram in front of them. They had still been in the briefing room, talking over the mission and finishing up the details.

"Yes she does. This is not the first time she has had to do such given her situation and she's been through worst." Kaldur paused. "She will be giving you openings throughout the fight as this is not the first time she has faked her death."

In one fluid motion, he had begun to let the weapon leave his finger tips, the girl's face turning ever so slightly as her side profile came into his view with her back still turned to him. And suddenly he had stumbled.

"Don't!" From the side, Nightwing felt himself fall, a body tackeling him as he fell to the dirt with the persons ginger hair covering his sight. His aim has been taken off track from the blow and he watched as Belldonna turned to see the commotion as the weapon imbedded itself into the girl's skin- right in her chest.

Violet eyes widened, and Nightwing felt himself still as he took in the girl's face for the first time.

"Who is she Kaldur?" He had found himself asking while they were still alone, curiosity getting the better of him as Kaldur turned to him.

"You and the others have no need to know, Dick." The white haired teen responded, laying a hand on his friends shoulder. "You don't know her and niether do I. It is my first time having heard of her name in my life."

He had lied.

He had trusted him, told him of her at his lowest of times when he was drowning in her and the other's memories- that had not been his first time hearing of her name, the name he had hidden from him. She was not always in his head- hell he barely thought of her, but at times she came like a sudden breeaze and there was no forgetting her.

He looked at the face- the face that was so different yet so familiar. She was supposed to have green eyes, be a small twelve year old who had died too young. Because of him and for a moment he wasn't even sure it was her.

The person- Bart- who had tackled into him had begun to make his way off of Nightwing to make it to the mystery girl, but for once the older hero was faster than the speedster, pushing him off as he ran to the teetering figure who had already begun to tilt over the edge.

Reaching out his hands, his fingers met air, a single name for a long forgotten girl escaping his lips. "Stella!"

And his deceased friend fell off the cliff.

A/N: This chapter is rather rushed again so I'm sorry but I really need to do so to help get to the actual plot which will be revealed in the next chapter. I can assure you by then everything will come together and make sense as to who Stella is and what's her lead in the plot so please bear with me.

* A Wing- Ding is the actual name of Nigtwing's version of a batarang so that's just some small trivia in case you didn't know and were curious as to what it is considering it's weird and funny name

Please review, favorite, or follow. The smallest of things mean a lot of me and motivate me to continue writing! Thank you :)