Disclaimer: Do we know the drill by now? I certaintly hope so!

Author's Note: So...many...reviews! 102 reviews in 7 chapters. Can I get a WOOT WOOT? So I tip my metaphorical Internet hat to: sunnydayz56, LadyMysteri (I appreciate not being rushed, truly I do. Thanks, dahling!), Somebody (yes, the Joker = creepiest guy EVER! But that's part of his appeal! Fae 3 the Joker!), artieelover (I like my ending to Homefront better too!), Darkness Bandit (Gah! I have missed you! Thanks for the update and PLEASE don't pick me over your schoolwork! I will always be here for ya though!), Wilhelmina Silver (you are so technical, I love it! Okay with her memory loss it's more of DID thing, because when she's normal, she remembers what she did when she went psycho...yeah when I made this idea up I didn't think there was a legit technical term! Next time I'll do my research more thorougally! Thanks for the lovely long review!), Lostie4815162342 (and no promised about not being evil. That I cannot do...tehee!), Keepmoveingforward2, Allie (I promise that I have a plan and if you're confused, you're not the only one! But everything will be revealed in due time...in due time), 1103469 (EEEEEK *cue the complete and total geek out* your review made my LIFE! And I super-duper edited this chaper JUST FOR YOU! Be happy.), spirit117 (never a killjoy by giving me contructive crtitisism! I will work on that!), anon, TheSupremeRulerofAwesomeness, GrayAreas (My very first reviewee! I owe you my self-confidence on most days! Keep it uppppp!), Redhawk15 (don't worry, it's all a part of the plan), Lalala (I'm with you on this one. Dark Knight = BEST MOVIE EVER! I can't wait for this summer and Dark Knight Rises!), and woodspritethatconqueredpeople (x5 because this reviewer is amazing and reviewed EVERY CHAPTER! Loves you!)


"Sportsmaster doesn't like you." Artemis blurted out, saying the first thing that popped into her mind. She regarded the newcomer and his lady friend warily. Who knew what they wanted or how dangerous they were. Correction: she did know how dangerous the Joker was. Artemis could faintly remember a man named Sportsmaster ranting about him, and how he got all of the glory from the press nowadays, while his own fiendish deeds when largely unnoticed. Sportsmaster...why did that name remind her so much of her father? And why did she even know who he was, anyway? Ugh, so many questions, so few answers. It was beyond infuriating!

"And how would you know my dear friend, the Shadow?" Joker asked, putting a finger on his chin thoughtfully.

Artemis smirked. "I know more about the Shadows that you might think."

"Well aren't you special." Jester said venomously.

"Ooh, Mr. J, I don't think your girlfriend likes me much." Artemis grinned at the girl, enjoying the black looks being shot at her. "Down girl. Heel." The Joker's smile widened and her cackled, his laugh coming out of nowhere, high-pitched and cold. Artemis grimaced, his smile gave even her chills.

"Harley, baby, don't be jealous." The Joker purred. The jester, Harley, frowned, crossing her arms and stuck her black lips into a childish pout.

"Why would I be jealous of a child like her?" Harley said, still sulking.

"Because you feel like an old lady, isn't that right?" Artemis suggested innocently, batting her eyelashes. "After all, you did get your costume from medieval Europe, correct? But why would you parade around the city dressed like a court fool? Or is it a kind of mental patient meets costume store kind of getup?" With a snarl, Harley lunged forward, a stiletto knife appearing out of the costume's sleeve, flashing through the air in the dim streetlight. Oh please. Like she'd done to the gangster with the bat, Artemis caught Harley's hand and sent a sharp jolt of electricity into her wrist. With a yelp, the harlequin jester dropped her weapon and staggered backwards, clutching at her hand.

"What the hell did you do?" she demanded, her voice screaming accusation.

Artemis smiled sweetly. "Oh, I have lots of hidden talents," she said. "Stay tuned."

"We will." The Joker put in. His grin was wider, more satisfied now, like he'd been proven right about something. A little disconcerting, Artemis thought, but nothing she couldn't handle.

Suddenly, her breath came on short gasps, and her heart-rate spiked violently, causing her physical pain.

"Well, Clown Prince, I hate to bid you ado, but I have to be going. You know, people to torment, lives to ruin. I'm sure you'll understand."

"Of course, good lady." the Joker said gallantly, playing along like a good sport. Artemis flashed a smile, gave a little curtsey and flounced away. As soon as she was sure – moderately sure, at least – that the Joker wasn't following her, Artemis broke into a dead sprint. She knew that she had only a few seconds before she completely lost it and blacked out...

And they said the Joker had multiple personalities. Damn, he had nothing on her.


"What the hell do you mean that you two knew that she was alive?" Wally demanded. Robin glared at him, pressing his ice-pack more firmly to his forehead, seating himself on a cushion on the couch. He, and the rest of the team were all assembled in the living room in the cave, a stunned, nervous energy settling over them all. Getting the "Artemis has been hiding in your attic" bomb dropped on them had that effect on the already tired and harangued teens. Who wouldn't react that way, after they'd 1. found out that their teammate was alive after a month and a half of mourning; 2. been saved by said teammate; 3. watched her have a mental-breakdown and attack their mentors. It was a rough day all around.

"You want to take this one?" Robin said to Roy, not feeling up to explaining. Artemis's electricity had really done a number on him.

"And why was he in on the whole thing?" Wally asked, enraged. "Artemis hates him!"

"She can't hate me that much because we're together." Roy snapped, not wanting to deal with Wally's rapid-fire questions. He hadn't planned on bringing that up, but it if would shut up the teenaged speedster, he'd willingly spill his – their – secret.

"Wha – what? She...and you?" Wally spluttered, going red in the face, his freckles almost disappearing. "She didn't tell me." Despite their constant bantering and bickering over movies and anything else that had no actual value in the real world, Artemis and Wally had become extremely close, and he viewed her as his best friend, along with Robin, of course. But that fact that she was dating another hero – another friend of his – and didn't tell him stung. Badly.

"Weird, I know." Robin piped in. The whole group glared at him and he shrank back into the couch and pretended to be concussed.

"Yes, we're dating." Roy confirmed. "Which is why I know."

"What is wrong with Artemis?" M'gann asked, breaking up the fight before it could start, sounding scared and worried.

"We don't know. Robin found her one day fighting for Mangus Red as a gladiator champion, and she didn't remember anything. Her memory is screwy, sometimes she'll know who we are – "

"And sometimes she'll go completely psycho." Superboy muttered angrily. "She could've killed you all!"

"I thought that she was not able to use that electricity-manipulating ability offensively," Kaldur broke in, again stopping a fight before it could break out. "She told us that she was only able to channel it through herself, not weaponize it, as I do."

"That's the thing: Artemis doesn't know how to do that. She just uses electricity to make herself stronger, or as a defense mechanism, as far as I know. The memory-addled version, however, seems to have figured out how to utilize that power as a weapon."

"So basically, we've got Artemis, who's already violent and hostile, minus the fond memories of us, plus electricity-wielding." Wally said.

"That about sums it up," Roy agreed.

"Fantastic." Wally groaned. "Now all we have to do is find her."

"We have to." M'gann said, her upper lip quivering slightly. Superboy slung an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. "We have to find her. She needs us. We have to try and bring her back."

"Guys, this is Artemis we're talking about!" Wally exploded suddenly. "She's a freaking ghost! If she doesn't want to be found, what chance in hell do we have of finding her?"

"And therein lies the problem." Roy said, straining to be patient, but tolerance wasn't really in the archer's nature. "When she loses it like you described, she isn't our Artemis anymore, she's whoever she was...before. The Artemis we know would do anything to keep you all safe, and if she was being taken against her will, she would try to find a way to get back to us. The question is: would she six months ago?" He stared hard at every hero assembled in the room, meeting all of their eyes in turn. "Let's be honest here: we all know that Artemis has a pretty screwed up past."

"Don't we all?" Wally muttered, thinking of his own parents. Superboy had to agree; being grown in a test-tube and force-fed an education by evil little mind monkeys hadn't exactly been a nurturing childhood.

Roy took a deep breath. Please don't let her hate me for this, he winged a quick prayer to whoever might be listening and then spoke. "Artemis is Sportsmaster's daughter." The team's reaction was understandable. Meaning it was an emotional mix of rage, disbelief and shock.

Wally came out of it first. "Bull!" he snarled.

"It's true." Roy said, trying to stay calm and shrugging his shoulders.

"No..." Robin said thoughtfully. "It makes sense."

"The hell it does!"

"Wally, please. Let Robin finish." Kaldur said. Roy was thankful for his soothing presence, seeing as he was about to strangle Wally.

"No, seriously, it does. I mean, she's never talked about her life outside of the team, right, not even a little. And there was no record of her in either of the Batcave or League database, either."

"There was no record of me." Superboy interjected unhelpfully.

"Yes, but you weren't alive six months ago." Robin reminded him coolly. "Come on, guys, think about it. It's the only logical explanation. I mean, what girl do you know that excels in mixed martial arts, archery, knife-wielding, maybe have more skills that we don't know about could possibly manage to avoid detection for fifteen years without having a soulless mercenary as a father?"

"Robin's right. Sportsmaster trained Artemis for five years." Roy added.

"She told you that?" Wally said aggressively, jumping down his throat. Again.

"Boyfriend." Roy said, pointing to himself. An ominous silence settled over the room. Artemis had kept secrets from them, big secrets. That was forgivable, they all did it. But now she had pulled a Houdini, and – as Robin had so neatly summarized – she'd managed to escape showing up on any law-enforcement radar for fifteen years. How were they supposed to find her?

"So is it safe to assume that the League knew of her survival?" Kaldur'ahm asked after a long, tense period of time.

"Yeah." Robin said. "She was – is – kinda wanted for arrest."

"What?" Robin winced, the sudden noise hurting his already-pounding head.

"Why?" M'gann asked, tears shining in her eyes.

"Because she is the main suspect in the killings of at least twenty people." Batman said, strolling into the room. Robin and Roy both muttered curses under their breath. Damn walls had ears. "Good to know that you two hid her under our noses." Batman said, now talking to his protege and the red-headed archer.

"You were the one who taught me how to hide in plain sight." Robin grumbled. The Dark Knight fixed him with a lethal glare and he fell silent. "And how do you know that she did it?" Robin demanded suddenly, his silence short-lived. "Ever heard of 'innocent until proven guilty?' Or does that law not apply to you?"

"The law stopped applying to me when I took it into my own hands." Batman said stonily. "And she will be tried fairly."

"If you can find her!" Robin shot back. "And you know even better than we do that the second she sees handcuffs, she'll bolt, whether she remembers us or not." Robin turned to the look at the team. They all stood, grim-faced and resolute.

"Batman, we are going to find her. And we are going to bring her home. Not to prison. Not to Belle Reve. Home."


Artemis woke up with a groan and pressed her hand to her forehead. Where was she this time? Artemis looked around curiously, surrounded by dusty boxes all stacked atop each-other. A warehouse. Why did she always end up in warehouses? It's not like she liked being in decrepit old building that threatened to topple over on top of you at any given second. Sheesh.

Artemis stood and dusted herself off, thankful that she seemed to be largely undiscovered. The familiar sent of ozone hovered all around her like an impending lightning-storm. Literally. After a minute, Artemis staggered backwards, her hand over her heart, the memories crashing down on her like a black tide. She'd broken out of Mt. Justice. She's hurt her friends – Robin...Green Arrow! She'd met...holy God. The Joker had approached her. Artemis felt her sanity fraying at the seams. She couldn't handle this any more. Why had those memories, of everything she'd done while she was in death-mode, had to come back to her. After everything, after proving herself to the team, after they'd accepted her, after she'd actually come to love each and every one of them, Artemis had hurt them all in the end.

She was done. So, so, so beyond done. Making a snap decision, Artemis raced outside, ignoring the pounding rain that soaked her through in less than a minute. She scrambled up building, then another, then another, getting higher and higher, as high as she could possible get without sprouting wings and taking off. Finally, Artemis had reached the peak – a building similar to the Chrysler Building in New York City. Wayne Tower. The irony of her choice wasn't lost on her. Artemis stood at the very top, not bothering to hold on to anything, not bothering to have her grappling gun ready should she fall. Maybe falling would be the best the option at this point.

"Come on!" Artemis screamed, turning her face towards the rain, towards the sky. "Come at me! Come on!" Lightning flashed across the murky, sobbing sky, tracing a zig-zagging path through the rain, taunting her with its distance. "Hit me!" Artemis ordered. If Mother Nature had a sense of honor or goodness, she'd comply. "Hit me!" When it became apparent that just willing the lightning to hit her wasn't enough, Artemis fired up every volt of electricity that was left in her body. Which was a surprisingly large amount, considering the liberal use she'd made of it during her blackout. Come on, come on, come on, she chanted. She had to be stopped, she had to stop hurting the people she loved. This was her chance. The lightning strikes grew more and more frequent, closer and closer to her, until finally, power like Artemis had never experienced coursed through her body. Artemis screamed, crumpling to the ground, her hand hanging off of the edge of the building. Stars danced in front of her eyes, and her vision fuzzed in and out. Her breath came in short, shallow gasps and she might've passed out for a couple of minutes, but then she woke up.

Dammit, Artemis thought, staring up at the rain, ignoring the ringing in her ears and the pounding in her head. I'm still here.

Resignedly, Artemis stood, shot a dark look at the flashing lightning and started making her descent. Figures, the one time she wanted to feel the effects of electricity, she was immune. If only her little revelation had happened a month ago.

By the time she had gotten to at least sea-level, Artemis had formulated a plan. A risky, stupid, probably-would-get-her-killed plan that might just fix everything. Maybe.

Hopefully.

Now all she had to do was find the Joker.


Hope you liked!

Oh and a note to all my lovely reviewers: if your name is highlighted and italisized up in the author's note, I am thanking you, and if there is a parenthesis next to your username, that is me DIRECTLY TALKING TO YOU! I take a lot of time answering questions and stuff through my author's notes up there on the top of each chapter (and yes, I will answer EVERYTHING, just about) so I just want to make sure y'all are taking the time to read it, because the fact that you reivew makes my day and I want to be able to answer! Okay, so go check what I have to day if you haven't already!

~Fae