Ch. 9

Artemis walked with her bow drawn taut and an arrow ready to fire. She wasn't really sure what Batman was thinking when he had sent her and Nightwing to find some food. Nightwing was injured for God's sake! As it was, he was moving more gracefully than the day before, but he was still a far cry from his usual self. Why Red Hood couldn't come instead was beyond her.

So far they had managed to avoid three groups of zombies. She had wanted to fight them, but Nightwing had shaken his head no, before gesturing for her to hide. Artemis assumed that he didn't want her to engage the enemy without suitable backup. She had to agree that it was probably for the best that she didn't. Even if she really wanted to.

Nightwing continued down the path, every once and awhile turning to look at her curiously. Artemis tried to ignore him, but eventually it became impossible. Growling, she demanded, "What?"

Nightwing didn't look perturbed by her brusque tone. Which really shouldn't surprise her. Batman was his father after all. "I'm just curious I guess. You do not look happy to be here with me. I'm just wondering what I did to piss you off."

"Nothing!"

Nightwing raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but didn't say anything to contradict her. Artemis found that odd. Her Robin would've made a show of not believing her and pestering her until she told him what her problem was. Nightwing seemed content to allow the silence do the talking. And much to her annoyance, it was working. "I just don't understand why Batman sent you! You're not fit for battle! What if we get caught? I don't know if I'll be able to fight my way out on my own!"

Nightwing gave her a soft smile and squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "Don't worry Artemis. Believe it or not, Batman truly does have a plan for everything."

Artemis was about to retort when suddenly there was a rustling in the trees above them, and forty ninjas dropped out. If that weren't enough, zombies seemed to be coming out of the forests from every direction.

Artemis tried, she truly did. But she was defeated within minutes. Nightwing didn't even go that far, he just put his his good hand on his hip and shook his head. "Honestly Artemis. You need to learn when to live to fight another day."

Lying on the ground, Artemis tried to keep her eyes open as Nightwing walked up to the ninja in charge. "I assume that Ra's sent you as a greeting party for me."

The ninja nodded curtly. Nightwing sighed dramatically. "Honestly, a little over the top don't you think? Here's the deal, I'll come along willingly if you leave Artemis. If you don't, and believe me I'll know, I will struggle and hurt myself. Maybe, I'll die. You guys did injure me when you knocked us out of the sky after all. I hardly think that Ra's and Talia will be very pleased if I'm dead."

The ninjas seemed to look at each other and nod in agreement before nodding at Nightwing. "Excellant! Now, let's go see my brother's grandpa and mommy. Though I highly doubt that they will like me calling them that."

Artemis' vision swam as she watched Nightwing be led away. "No." She whispered hoarsely before she lost the battle and fell unconscious.

###

Artemis groaned as she felt something prod her. "Ah. She awakens. Finally. How long have you been poking her Replacement? Half and hour?"

"I've been analyzing her injuries Red Hood. You could be kinder, I seem to remember a time when you were passed out for five hours despite how much we poked and prodded you."

Artemis fluttered her eyes open. Robin was standing over her, while the rest of the team watched her, eyes full of worry. Gasping, she sat up straight. "Nightwing! He was taken! I couldn't stop them!"

Blackbird rolled his eyes. "Fool. Do you honestly think that Grayson would have led you straight into an ambush without a plan?"

Artemis stared at him with her mouth slightly open, as did the rest of the team. Batman eyed his son appraisingly. "Oh?"

Robin scoffed. "Like Nightwing would randomly put a tracker on Artemis. Obviously he knew he was going to be taken and put it on her before his captors appeared."

Artemis tried to think back to their conversation. "He put his hand on my shoulder after saying that Batman had a plan for everything. Wait. You planned this! You let your own son get captured! You asshole!"

Suddenly Artemis knew why villains cowered at the sight of the Batglare. Having it directed at you was not fun. At all. "I, did not plan this. Nightwing did. I tried to talk him out of it. Multiple times."

"Oh." Artemis cursed herself internally. Oh? That was the best thing that she could come up with? Seriously?

Somehow Artemis knew that Red Hood was smirking down at her when he said, "Have you figured it out yet?"

Wally was practically vibrating in place. "What? What should she figure out? What are we missing? Wait was Nightwing actually taken? Or is he here somewhere laughing at us?"

Robin sighed loudly. "I think what my asshole of a brother is trying to say is that Nightwing needed a reason to touch Artemis so that he could put the tracer on her. In other words, he manipulated the whole conversation to get the outcome he wanted."

M'gann began to float nervously. "Isn't that mean?"

Blackbird shrugged. "Nobody minds when Grayson does it. They do seem to get offended when anyone else tries though. I do not comprehend why."

Batman rolled his eyes underneath the cowl. "Focus. Our priority is to retrieve Nightwing."

"Batman. I do not understand why Nightwing would purposely get captured. Does it not interfere with the mission and locating the base in a timely manner?" Kaldur asked bravely. Batman was not known to enjoy people questioning him during a mission. Or ever really. If you wanted answers, you would have better luck if Conner asked Superman.

Batman's shoulders straightened visibly under his cape. "Nightwing has kindly taken it upon himself to show us where Ra's al Ghul is hiding. Now we just have to get there without raising alarm. Artemis? Are you ready?"

The female archer nodded. "Yeah I'm good. I'll be even better when I can knock out the clowns who got the jump on me earlier."

Batman nodded. "Good. Let's go. We have one of our own to rescue."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N: I know I know...I suck at updating. I do have a really bad excuse though...I was in Europe with horrible wifi connection and therefore did not have my laptop and I forgot to update before I left, and then when I came back, I decided that the chapter I wrote made no sense and rewrote it. So I hope you liked it. I don't think that there will be many more chapters, hopefully I'll update again before everybody loses interest in the story.

Have a good day and a pleasant back to school for those of you who are starting school soon.