A/N: Tried to write in Engineering class today. Couldn't come up with anything. At all. It was pathetic, really… Then I remembered I had this prewritten on my iTouch. So yeah.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. Sorry.
Robin was eager, to say the least, to finally have a Shadows operative within his reach. He'd faced off with plenty of them before, enjoying every moment of the heart-pounding, adrenaline-rushing action, but he'd never been able to get the hands-on approach of dealing with an assassin. At least not a Shadows assassin. The bird was excited, the ecstasy of finally having his prize flooding his mind. Of course, hehadn't captured her, but still! He had a Shadows assassin!
Wally, never having been in an interrogation room before, was questioning the Atlantean and the Dark Knight's protégé; the speedster wished that he could get in on this gig, but he knew he didn't have the skills for it. The leaders did. And maybe Superboy, you know, if they needed to implement torture to get information. Maybe Artemis. Miss Martian would only make the masked woman a batch of cookies. Kid Flash smirked at the thought.
"Kid Mouth, would you mind being quiet for, oh, I don't know, ten seconds?" Robin was giving his best friend a disgusted look as Aqualad stood there calmly just as he always did. "Sheesh, KF, you should seriously consider getting pills or something, I swear..." There were days when Robin contemplated whether his buddy had ADHD or something of the sorts. Wally had sucha short attention span...
Wally, producing a bag of peanuts from his pocket, went quiet and ducked into the room that could see through the one-way mirror that held the viewing area of the actual interrogation room. He closed the door silently behind him and grabbed a stool, pulling it up to the almost bar-like area that was directly in front of the one-way mirror where Artemis was already perched. "You psyched?" he asked, keeping his voice low. "We got a Shadows operative!" And Wally, being Wally, punched one fist into the air as if he had just scored the winning goal at the FIFA World Cup.
Artemis, her arms folded on the long stretch that functioned as the table space, gave a little shrug. "Just the Shadows," she said carelessly, not really answering. She was more worried about what would come out of this once Cheshire started talking. The assassin was still wearing her cat mask with that smile upon it, that grin taunting the archer; Artemis knew that the woman was smiling behind that mask as well. Her mind was wrapped up in thoughts instead of focusing on reality.
Because what all would Cheshire reveal? There were so many things that could be said. But she'd threatened to reveal everything. What all did she know to begin with? Did she know Artemis's origins? Her affiliation with the Shadows? What her assignment really was? The blonde's blood ran cold as if it had been replaced with ice water; goosebumps rose on her exposed arms.
And what if she said nothing? Well, then Artemis would have to keep it that way. This was war without weapons. Well, there were weapons, but no real ones. Only words. Words were weapons. Secrets were weapons. And there was no defense. Not on this battlefield. Artemis couldn't help but feel like she had already been isolated from her teammates. Things had been going pretty well too. Despite Wally's rudeness, snideness, and overall stupidity, anyways.
"As if you know the Shadows," snorted Wally, tossing a peanut up into the air and tilting his head back to catch it in his mouth. He caught it and began munching. "You're still a rookie in these ranks, Artie."
Just at the mention of that name, she wanted to punch him hard enough to shatter his nose. No, not just break it, shatter it. "Artemis," she corrected, a slightly fierce tone on the edge of her voice. Her name was Artemis by birth. It always would be Artemis. She was Artemis. It was who she was. She would be proud of that name until the day she died. "Just Artemis."
Detached, Wally gave a little shrug. He was about to call her Artie again until the door of the adjacent room opened and a little caped boy and a dark-skinned teen walked in, the door firmly shutting behind them. "Here's the fun part now," remarked Kid Flash, giving Artemis a little jab with his elbow. "You really shoulda brought popcorn or something."
Not listening, scarcely even aware that there was another teammate in the room, the girl sat there with an intent look on her face. She had pulled one arm up from the folded position and placed her chin delicately in her hand, watching the scenario in the other room unfold as Robin and Aqualad were about to start interrogating the dark-haired woman behind the mask. Whatever happened in that room would determine her future as part of this team. Or just determine her future in general, whether she would die young like all the other good ones did.
The lights were off in their room, but the lights were bright in the room with Robin and Aqualad. Robin was circling like a vulture, his cape fluttering behind him and catching the light in an almost dazzling way. It was clear his costume was meant mainly for nighttime use. "Cheshire, right?" Dick knew he was right. He wasn't some stupid kid like everyone thought he was.
And instead of answering, Cheshire released a catlike hiss. Not threatening. Not fierce. Not even playful. Just a hiss.
"What's she doing?" asked Wally, jabbing Artemis with his elbow once more. It was like being at a movie for him. And in a movie theater, he was never quiet. He wouldn't be quiet in interrogation either, sadly for Artemis.
"Hush," insisted the archer, her focus still set on the woman in the mask who was chained to the table and the chair, each being both nailed and chained to the floor; Batman had a thing for extra security measures. For some reason, it reassured the blonde on the other side of the mirror.
After a slight pause in his step, Robin continued with, "Okay..." Truly, he hadn't thought all of this through. But he was too hyped up on the fact that he finally had a Shadows assassin to care. A Shadows assassin! There were questions he wanted to ask, but how to start was the problem...
Robin was contemplating a number of things as he circled and hovered. He had control of this room, not Kaldur. He could have his time to contemplate, to think.
Ask why they wanted the data from Wayne Enterprises and Starr Labs? No. He'd get a stupid answer. Something along the lines of "Technology is the most powerful weapon". He already knew that. He lived with it; technology was his personal choice of weapon.
Ask who her leader was? Why would she ever answer that? Robin pushed that question to the side.
Identity? Hmm, now that was a thought. Richard mulled it over before letting it go. They could run facial or voice recognition and get better results. He made a mental note to play back the tapes of the questioning later so he could put in her voice and get a real identity. Lies were common; they were everywhere, Richard was no fool.
Ask who else was in the League of Shadows? Robin nearly scoffed aloud at the thought. He would never give away his teammates' names, not even if he was being whipped and was in danger of bleeding out. Names were sacred in their line of business. But of course, the Shadows wouldn't let an assassin who failed get away with her life. Maybe, in exchange for protection from her own people, he could get a few more identities out of her... Maybe, just maybe. Professor Ojo was already on the list as was Hook and Black Spider, but a few more names wouldn't hurt. Well, it'd hurt the Shadows, but Robin didn't care about that. They were just the Shadows.
But the bird was patient and methodical, always methodical. He was quietly pacing still, contemplating his wording. "Who else is in the League of Shadows?" Hearing himself actually say it aloud made Robin feel like those words were out of place. Well, he wasn't perfect, that was obvious.
Artemis and Wally shot each other queer looks from behind the glass. Artemis's gaze held a slight trace of fear; Wally's contained just the general confusion of what the heck his little weirdo of a friend was doing.
There was a hidden grin from Cheshire. That smile was placed upon her mask, but if any of them could see her real smirk behind that mask, they would see the cunning in it. Leaning back in her chair after having been pulling against the restraints that kept her pinned to the chair, she said, "Ask yourselves."
"Very, very cryptic," mused Kid Flash, his green gaze suddenly narrowed as he thought. "Any clue what it means?"
Artemis knew exactly what it meant. But she wouldn't say so. "Just shut up, you idiot."
A/N: This is one of those stories where I got the idea before I got the plotline. And no matter how many interrogation scenes I watch on NCIS and NCIS: LA, I can never seem to write one… Sorry about the awkwardness… Reviews would be much appreciated!
~Sky