A/N: My first time to try and write something since getting to writing camp. How's that? Good? Bad? Tell me if I've improved at all…

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own anything.


Afraid? No. Scared? No. Worried? A bit. Dreading the next day? More than anyone would ever know.

Artemis could only toss and turn in her small bed, her blue eyes flitting from the shadows of the room to the darkness of the night. The cold Gotham air seeped in through one shattered windowpane. The cold breeze rushed into her small, shared abode with the fierceness of an attacker. The girl tucked her tattered sheets around her torso a bit tighter and waited for her shivers to subside. Part of her couldn't tell whether it was the cold that made her quake or the prospects of having to face tomorrow.

She looked back on her track record with her mind wrapped in pain. Working with the League of Shadows as one of their top assassins. That was one of her favorite things in life. It'd given her a crossbow, hadn't it? Then there was the fact that she was the daughter of one of the world's top criminals. Sportsmaster had a deeper influence than she had previously thought. She had skills that could rival those of Robin, her acrobatics good but her martial arts a specialty. Then add in her crossbow and sheer physical strength… Artemis was a force to be reckoned with.

Tomorrow would be hard, a thorn in her side. She had two people backing her up, Green Arrow and Batman, but as she tossed and turned in that icy night, she looked within herself and wondered if she was worth the risk. Sure, she was a double agent, spying for the League of Shadows while also working with the Justice League to feed Shadow secrets to them. But her main priority was the Justice League. She didn't want to be a villain, not anymore. She was feeding as many secrets as she could to Dark Knight and the hero of Star City, but sometimes she just wasn't sure if the risk was worth them keeping her around.

She was a traitor to her family. That could definitely pose as a hazard to her place on the team. She was half willing to betray them because of certain members who annoyed the Hell out of her beyond belief. Wally was the prime example, Robin following shortly behind that as his dark chuckling filled her mind. God, that kid could be creepy sometimes.

Then the fact that she was a double agent for one side of the coin. Who was to say that she couldn't be playing for both teams and picking up both benefits? No one could judge her actions properly. She was just doing her duty.

And what would the team do when they found out? A groan escaped her lips as she rolled over again, a fist balling up in the comforter of her bed as she pulled it all the way up to her chin and adjusted it to cover her bare shoulder. They would accuse her of being a traitor, of course. She cringed at the thought of it. Accusing stares from the people who had been her first friends in a long time. Forcing her to resign. Making her go back to the Shadows. For good. Then, if the Shadows took her back, if, - because there was always the chance they'd just kill her and get rid of a loose end- then she couldn't bear the thought of fighting people she'd grown so close to in such a short time. They were like the family she'd never had. Batman a father, the boys her brothers, Megan her sister. She respected them in turn- except for Wally- and wanted to stay in her place within the posse of young heroes.

Artemis rolled over again, her mind reeling from all of this. She didn't want to think about losing her position within her group. Her friends leaving her. She would have to go back to the Shadows. They wouldn't have their inside man anymore. They could kill her without a second thought. She wouldn't be needed anymore. She'd just be another body to feed, another person to have with a secret in their head. A loose end. If she went back, that loose end would be tied up with a bullet or a slit throat.

More freezing air seeped in her window. Subconsciously, the girl reached out and clasped the wood of her small crossbow where it lay under her newspaper-stuffed pillow. She just wished that her world was a little less complicated, that she hadn't caught Cheshire, and that she could disappear, not having to face the truth behind her actions.

Another shiver captured her cold body. More turning. Her fingers traced her crossbow, circular patterns being drawn on the small piece.

She didn't think Batman would dismiss her from the team once his protégé and the others found out her dirty little secrets. She also didn't think that he'd shield her from the accusations and attacks. A Shadows assassin in their midst the whole time. She knew it all along. They hadn't. It felt like she'd stabbed each and every one of them in the back repeatedly. Every time she'd seen them, she'd only been able to think about how they knew so little about her, how she'd been lying to them the whole time.

Artemis was a dirty little liar. She felt so dangerous. More circles were traced on her crossbow. Another little wind whispered through the empty window. She rolled over again. Her head crushed more balled up newspapers.

No, Batman wouldn't protect her. Green Arrow though? She figured it unlikely. Why would he? What would that do for him? From what little Artemis knew about Oliver Queen, she had deduced that he was a self-centered, humorous, lovable man under the mask that shielded his eyes and face from the team and from the rest of the world of heroes. But a defender of his own decisions? Not if Batman wasn't going to save her. If the Dark Knight did nothing, Green Arrow would only follow his lead. What lies he would make up about their relation, she could only imagine would be immensely good to listen to. Lies to lie about his lie. A dirty web of dirty lies.

So she was on her own for this. She would need a bow at her side at all times, an arrow ready to be drawn at any sudden sound. Artemis wasn't sure when her teammates would find out or what they would do to her afterwards. She could be hunted like an elephant surrounded by ivory hunters, no way out of her demise, death.

Another roll. Another crumple of newspapers. More wind fluttering in as if on the wings of a thousand tiny butterflies.

She was on her own now that her secret could be found out at any second. The archer was half-tempted to ask if she could just stay at Mount Justice, but then she could be killed sooner and without trial. Here, she was safer. Only Robin and Batman could maneuver Gotham and with Batman by the Boy Wonder's side, he was sure to have to obey his mentor's every command even after being the victim of a traitor for so long. Maybe Batman would at least give her time to run and hide. Maybe. If she was lucky enough to deserve that.

Artemis just hoped Cheshire would keep her yap shut until morning. The archer didn't want any surprises tonight. She didn't want to have her apartment blown to bits or a birdarang in her skull. Hope was her only defense against Cheshire's attacks.

When she finally did get to sleep, that malicious grin haunted her mind.


A/N: Constructive criticism? The latest episode, "Targets", is online and it inspired a few things. This story will take off pretty soon now that I got some plot to follow. Review please!

~Sky