"I didn't think you would come today." Zatanna's voice was not much more than a whisper.
Artemis gave her a funny look. "Why wouldn't I come?"
"Well..." she seemed to struggle with finding the right words. "Because Wally's going to be here."
Artemis narrowed her eyes and clenched her hands into fists.
Zatanna bit her lip and gave her a worried look.
She opened her mouth but was interrupted by the zeta-beam.
"Kid Flash, B-0-3." The computer voice announced.
"Hey guys," he said like he always did.
Artemis just shook her head and walked away.
Wally looked confused at her back as she walked, then turned to Zatanna.
"What's wrong with her?" He asked.
Zatanna just looked at him, then turned away and followed Artemis.
Then he turned to the guys.
"What did I do?" He asked clearly confused.
They just shrugged.
"Arts seems to be mad at you." Robin pointed out.
Wally just looked even more confused.
Then Batman appeared on a screen.
"Team there's a mission."
Wally immediately smiled.
"What?" He asked and walked closer to the screen.
"Sportsmaster has escaped from Belle Reve."
Wally smacked himself on the forehead and let his hand glide down his face.
"This is so not going to help, at all." He signed.
"He was tracked to this building?" Robin asked.
M'gann nodded.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"So … let's go," Wally said, just wanting to get this over with.
Robin looked at Superboy. "Can you see anything?"
Superboy narrowed his eyes and looked into the building.
"There two people in there."
Aqualad nodded. "Let's go."
He looked back at her, she looked away.
"So … you're not going to tell me what I did wrong?" He asked.
She just looked at him with narrowed eyes.
He signed and looked ahead.
"Why did Kaldur have to put us together, when you're like this?" He asked out loud.
She didn't say anything.
He signed again.
"Why did I come here?"
Kid flash turned around.
"Did you hear that?" He whispered.
Artemis listened and nodded.
"We needed to get them off our trail..." Someone said.
"They're a bunch of kids! You think I'll let them catch me!"
They slowly crept closer to the voices.
"You trained one of those kids." The voice sounded dry and old.
"That doesn't matter," Sportsmaster said. "Artemis isn't anything to worry about."
"Your last battle seems to tell otherwise." The other one said.
The person was standing in the shadows, they couldn't see him from where they were standing.
Sportsmaster took a threatening step forward.
"I didn't come here to be told off by someone like you," he almost growled.
"No..." the man in the shadows said. "You're the distraction."
Then the figure in the dark turned slightly and looked directly at them.
They both tensed up.
Sportsmaster followed his line of sight and looked right at them too.
"Well …" he said in a low voice. "If it isn't my other spawn."
Artemis bit her lib. "Oh, shut up!"
Wally looked at her, then down at the man in the shadows, he wasn't there anymore.
Sportsmaster pulled out a chain. "Let's see just how bad you've become."
Artemis ran towards him in a blind rage.
Kid Flash signed.
"Guys, we found him." He said over the psychic-link and looked at Artemis, who shot a rain of arrows towards Sportsmaster. "And you better come quickly, or there won't be any of him left."
"Is this all you got, baby girl?" He asked, clearly laughing through his mask.
"Why can't you just shut up!" She said through clenched teeth. First, she had to deal with Wally playing stupid, and now him!
Sportsmaster didn't answer her instead, he took a step back.
"This seems like enough," he then said and threw a smoke bomb at the ground.
Artemis ran into the smoke, desperate to find him, but he was not there anymore.
As the smoke cleared the rest of the team came running.
"Where is he?" Aqualad asked.
Artemis slowly turned towards them. She looked down, but it was clear that she was angry.
"He got away." She huffed.
"Arts it happens to the best of us," Zatanna said and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I know," she just said with a stiff expression.
"We'll catch him next time," M'gann said sympathetically as she stirred in a bowl of cookie dough.
"I know." She repeated.
"Look babe it's all going to be fine, so just..." Wally started but was cut off by a look from Zatanna.
There were silent for a minute or two, then Wally signed loudly.
"Look can't you just tell me what I did?" He asked irritated.
Artemis looked at him with narrowed eyes, and just as she was about to open her mouth his phone went off.
He gave her a look and answered it.
"Yes?"
"Wally,"
"Lia," he said in surprise. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Artemis grind her teeth.
"I have those emails from the anonymous sender if you're interested."
"I'm very interested," he said with a smile.
"Coming over?"
"Right now?" He asked.
"Yes,"
"Ok, I'm coming." He said and nodded even though she couldn't see her through the phone.
"See you then..."
He put the phone back in his pocket.
"I need to go, something came up," he said and speed towards the exit.
Artemis looked about ready to kill him.
"Wally," the middle-aged woman greeted him with a smile.
"Is Lia home?" He asked with a smile.
The woman nodded. "She's in her room," she said and opened the door wider.
"Hey," He said and threw himself on the bed.
Lia sat at her desk.
"Hey." She smiled. "Come look at this."
"What is it?" He asked and got up.
"I got another email, that's why I called you."
Wally came closer and looked at the computer screen.
"We are awaiting an update on your progress?" He read confused.
"What do you think it means?" Lia asked she sounded scared.
"That whoever send you that email is serious about the xenothium." He said seriously.
"What do we do?" She asked and turned around in her chair to look at him.
"We can do one of two things," Wally explained. "We can either continue with the project or forget all about it."
Lia turned back to the computer screen. She stared at it for a while and then looked at Wally over her shoulder.
"Well … It is kind of interesting and besides, we're only working on a theoretical level." She said with a smile.
Wally signed and shrugged. "Well … it's too late to change the project now anyway."
"So we keep going?" Lia asked and typed something on the computer.
"Yes. Now the problem is still the same … what should we use it for?"
Lia slowly turned around in her chair. "What if we ... theoretically, of course, make some kind of weapon?"
"What?" Wally asked surprised.
"To keep up with the theme of the email, they sound to … sinister."
Wally shrugged and began to laugh.
Lia joined in.
"Can you get the new pair of scissors for me, they're in the closet by the door." Her mother asked her from the kitchen.
"Yes," she said and walked out into the hallway.
As she kneeled down and looked through the closet, the front door slowly creaked open.
She looked at it confused and got up.
She opened the door wide and looked around, there was no one out there.
Then she looked down.
On the doorstep were a little container and a note.
She picked up the container and looked at it closely. She had no idea what it was.
Then she picked up the note.
"You have gotten what you need," she read out loud. "Now use it."
The note was signed: The League of Shadows.
"Can you find them?" Her mom asked from the kitchen.
She looked around one last time before she closed the door.
"Hold on one second," she yelled back
