"I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their intellects. A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies."
- Oscar Wilde
Atlantis
The pain in his chest was immeasurable. Every breath he took was laboured, but he knew with the searing pain that seemed to penetrate his very heart, he was alive. Injured but alive. Kaldur lay still, unsure of whether he could open his eyes. The cool waters were brushing past his skin and he knew he was home.
Kaldur shifted ever so slightly, someone was touching him. Delicate fingers were interwoven with his own. Each digit was slender yet the skin tough, hardened. Frowning Kaldur opened his eyes. At first there was nothing, nothing but bright, effervescent light. And then he saw dark raven hair tumbling freely around a face. With each blink the image was sharper, pulled into focus. Bright, expressive eyes stared down at him keenly, noticing that Aqualad was in fact awake a large smile blossomed across her face.
Kaldur blinked again, Wonder Woman was holding his hand. Wonder Woman was smiling at him like he was the very reason her heart continued to beat.
"Kaldur?" her voice was soft, full of quiet strength and majesty.
"Wonder Woman... I."
"Diana," the heroine corrected, smiling once more. "Please, call me Diana."
"Diana," Kaldur said uncertainly, his voice shaky. "How is everyone? Is Atlantis safe?"
"Atlantis is safe," Diana sighed quietly. "You are safe."
"Where is Aquaman? Where is my King?" Kaldur suddenly demanded. "Sorry, I did not mean to snap." The teen quickly added, bashful.
"You are forgiven," Diana whispered. "Orin is... Detained."
"Detained?"
"He is alone and does not wish to be disturbed. He feels an overwhelming sense of guilt Kaldur. Guilt that he could not protect Atlantis, guilt that you were hurt."
Wonder Woman released her grip on Aqualad's hand. Rising from her seat she walked towards the window. With every passing minute she longed for the surface, to feel real air in lungs, to have the sun's warm rays beat down on her skin.
"But it was not his fault!" Kaldur sharply exclaimed. "It was mine..."
"Yours?" Diana questioned, turning her head as her brow furrowed.
"I did not see the signs. I did not successfully uncover the mole within my team. I did not discover Artemis' true intentions."
"Kaldur," the Amazon gently interjected. "It most certainly is not your fault. And as for Artemis, there were darker forces at play."
"What do you mean?" Aqualad prodded as he pulled himself into a sitting position, a hiss escaping from between his lips as he felt a pulling at his wound.
"Artemis did not mean to hurt you. She was trying to protect her mother; to her it was the lesser of two evils. She is young... It was to be expected."
"But, the others would never dream..." Kaldur began.
"You have been lucky Kaldur, you have been surrounded by a world of good people. But Artemis? She has seen up close what the Shadows are capable of. What her father is capable of. She could never risk them hurting her mother." Diana spoke softly.
She had been angry before; angry that Artemis had been weak and betrayed them; angry that Bruce had lied. But Artemis was not an Amazon, she was a little girl and she was running scared. Diana sent Kaldur a tearful glance, were they kidding themselves into thinking that Young Justice was ready? They were children; they deserved to be protected from this, not pushed into the line of fire.
"Then she had no choice," Kaldur spoke solemnly. "I cannot condemn her."
Diana smiled, "No we cant." Sighing Wonder Woman pulled her hair away from her face. "I must leave you know Kaldur, I have stayed for as long as I can but I'm going to rendezvous with Batman and see what I can do to help with the push."
"Push?" Kaldur questioned, worried.
"The Justice League were defeated by the Shadows, we have lost many of our friends but we are going to fight back. We always do."
"I want to help!"
Diana shook her head, "I can't let you Kaldur, you barely survived the fight with Ocean Master. You'll be needed in Atlantis as well, but Arthur will come around soon I'm sure."
The Citadel
Ra's sat impatiently waiting. He had been informed by a terse video call that Lex Luthor was to be visiting him. Ra's frowned, Lex, whilst possessing limitless funds and a certain degree intelligence, was proving to be more of a hindrance than an asset. More concerned with his hatred for the Man of Steel than any other goal that the Shadows might be able to achieve. Of course he was one to talk, the Detective was one of his greatest obsessions. But here there was no hatred, only admiration. Luthor's obvious animosity towards Superman often proved to be his Achilles heel. An easy way to get at him, it was a weakness to be exploited.
"Shiva!" Ra's called out, unable to keep the anger from his voice.
"Yes my Lord?" the assassin quickly moved to his side, her head bowed in submission.
"Keep an eye on Luthor when he arrives. I don't trust him."
"What should I be on the look out for my Lord?" Shiva questioned, her tone respectful.
"I don't know," Ra's muttered resentfully.
Looking sharply towards the Demon Head, Shiva frowned. It was not often that she found her master in such a state of mind.
"Very well my Lord." Shiva bowed deeply before she swept from the room, her hand firmly glued to the hilt of her sword. All she could trust in was her nerve and cold steel.
Unidentified Airspace
Lex stared disdainfully through the thick glass of the chopper that was carrying him towards the mountain lair of Ra's al Ghul. The industrialist resisted rolling his eyes, snow-capped mountains and hidden bases was entirely over played, more Bond villain than credible threat. But Ra's seemed to relish the idea of theatrics, albeit all under cover of darkness.
Over the years Lex had come to appreciate his position in the public eye; contrary to popular belief it shrouded some of his more dubious ventures. The R & D department of LexCorp hid all manner of sins and the world's populace seemed to turn a blind eye to any of his public indiscretions provided he paid for a new library and attended a taxpayer run rehabilitation programme. Not that it ever stopped him.
Glancing to his right Lex admired the beautiful face of Mercy; as per usual she was unmoving. Her whole being geared towards his protection, she never so much as cracked a smile. Whilst Lex might have enjoyed the occasional comment from his companion, she was there for his protection and if that meant forgoing pleasantries then he wasn't one to complain.
"We're approaching our destination Mr Luthor," Mercy's clipped voice suddenly spoke up.
Jumping at his bodyguard's announcement the billionaire adjusted his face to a look of steely determination, failing that, detached boredom.
"I trust you are well prepared for any trouble?" Lex questioned Mercy offhand.
"Trouble Mr Luthor? I was under the impression you and Mr Ducart had an agreement."
Lex grimaced, "Any arrangement Henri and I had went out of the window when he lost me my pet project."
"Sir?"
"Nothing to concern yourself with Mercy. I was just expecting an extremely high payoff for one of my investments but the 'Demon Head' put an end to that." Lex explained bitterly.
"But surely it's just a drop in the ocean? The funds available..."
"Oh, I'm not talking about money Mercy, I'm talking about blood."
"Mr Luthor, we're about to make our descent." The reassuring voice of the pilot sounded through Lex' headphones. Straightening his tie he looked resolutely out of the window.
"Lex, if you've been betrayed by Ra's I need to know – in the interest of your security." Mercy spoke up, her face strangely expressive.
"Mercy, do not forget that I posses the capability to rewire nuclear bombs, I am not entirely defenceless."
"But Lex..." Mercy interjected.
"Ms Graves," Lex cut her off. "Need I remind you that you are under my employ?"
"Yes Sir."
The Citadel
A shiny, patent leather shoe tapped against the cool flagstone. Eyeing his watch Lex sneered, he was not used to being kept waiting. It was an ultimate reversal of fortunes, glancing towards Mercy he was slightly calmed by the sight of her unflinching face. Finally the wooden door to the far side of the antechamber they had been dumped in opened. Standing in the light cast by a large fire stood Lady Shiva. The assassin sent Mercy a hard glance, doing little to hide her obvious feelings of distaste; whilst Shiva was not against using firearms she felt they lacked the required finesses. Mercy's robotic arm was the epitome of the American, guns blazing attitude. And Shiva hated her for it.
"The Demon Head is ready to receive you Mr Luthor," Shiva spoke deliberately, relishing the sight of the millionaire attempting to keep his temper in check.
"How good of you to tell me," Lex replied.
"Ms Graves is to remain here," the assassin insisted.
"Wait a minute..." Mercy called out, powering angrily towards Shiva.
"I find those terms acceptable," Lex suddenly offered. Not giving his bodyguard a second glance he headed towards the main chamber and the awaiting Ra's.
Lex fought back the urge to laugh, sat high and mighty on wooden thrown was Ra's. The billionaire grimaced, he couldn't be distracted, he needed to focus.
"You lost me an investment Ra's!"
"By all means, sit down and make yourself comfortable Lex." Ra's smiled thinly, blithely ignoring Luthor's accusation.
"I didn't come her to chat Ra's," Lex continued snidely. "I want to know why you think it's ok to destroy my personal property?"
"Personal property?" Ra's mused softly. "Is that any way to talk about..."
"Yes! Mypersonal property, your lackeys went and destroyed months of hard work."
"You always have a back up plan don't you Lex?" Ra's mocked.
"That is beside the point," Lex thundered. "You have cost me everything!"
"Now, don't be melodramatic Lex."
"Ducart, you have lost me the best chance of taking down Superman..."
"And here I was thinking that I took him down for you?" Ra's parried the verbal blow, his eyebrow raised in question.
"You destroyed the team..."
"Nonsense! Cheshire ran into them only two nights ago."
"What, Kid Flash and Boy Blunder?" Lex veritably spat. "No sign of Superboy was there?"
"No," Ra's replied casually, as he took a sip of wine.
"Then I have no evidence that Superboy is still in action."
"Really Lex, you only have yourself to blame for this uncertainty. You should have developed a more sophisticated way of tracking him." The Demon Head smiled crookedly, waiting for Lex' response.
"I wouldn't need to track him if you hadn't killed him!" Luthor was veritably foaming at the mouth as he took angry steps towards Ra's.
"Like I said, you have a plan B?" Ra's continued, entirely at ease.
"It could take months for..."
Ra's cut off Luthor's rant, "I have given you months, the Man of Steel is currently fending off a rather nasty infection."
Lex stood still, his jaw clenched a vein pulsating over his left temple. He was bottling the anger, trying to regain control. He couldn't afford to show Ra's al Ghul any further weakness.
"I will remember your actions Ra's," Luthor promised, his tone hard.
"And one day I will be judged for them all."
The Batcave
Not a word was spoken; there was only silence as one after the other Young Justice filed off into the Bioship. Megan ran a stray hand through her hair; after all the days of waiting – wondering what had happened to Artemis and whether they would ever be the same again, the team was about to embark on a mission. Megan was scared. It didn't matter that she had powers; every time the team went on a covert op the fear gripped her tightly. Closing her eyes Megan breathed deeply, she would count to five, for those few seconds the terror would have complete control. She would let it in. But then that was it, with five she would wrestle her conscious free and she would be the one in control.
"You guys ready?" the unfamiliar voice of Shayera Hol sounded throughout the slightly larger cabin.
"We've done this before you know," Wally replied, his tone slightly guarded.
"I know. I just wanted to make sure you were prepared."
"Are you?" Robin challenged.
Shayera flinched behind her mask, not for the first time glad that it obscured the majority of her features. "I'm not going to lie to you, I worry about Carter – about Hawkman but that doesn't mean I can't do my job." Gripping her mace firmly Shayera breathed deeply, "The world needs us to be heroes, that's all that matters."
Glancing towards Kid Flash seated to her left Shayera sighed; out of all them he seemed the most nervous.
"Do you miss her?"
"Miss who?" the Speedster replied a little too quickly.
"Artemis, your team mate." Shayera qualified, her keen eyes studying the freckle-covered nose of Wally West.
"I..." Kid Flash stuttered. "I mean I guess I got used to having her around and now she's not, so it kind of sucks? I mean that and she's in trouble, which really sucks. We never really hung out or anything, we just went on missions together and she pretty much yells at me all the time."
Wally sighed; things had been so much simpler when Artemis was there to yell at him. Now everything was just a hot mess.
"It's ok to admit it," Hawkgirl added, her voice encouraging.
"But I don't know if I do," Kid Flash mused. "She's just not here anymore, it's like there's an empty space where there should be something."
Shayera lifted up her hand to reach out to the red head but suddenly thought better of it. "We'll bring her back."
"What if she doesn't want to come back?" Wally suddenly questioned, voicing the thought that had been plaguing him ever since her learnt of Artemis' true situation.
"Who wouldn't want to come back to you kid?" Hawkgirl returned, her mouth quirking at the edges.
"We don't really get along, maybe she'd do it spite me." Wally mumbled.
"The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference." Shayera replied casually.
"And what that's supposed to mean?" the Speedster demanded.
Hawkgirl shrugged, "Something I heard, maybe you can tell me one day."
Wally didn't reply, instead he shrunk back into his seat. Artemis was gone and she might never be coming back. Whilst life was now one big rollercoaster, when the blonde archer had been around everything had been made a little bit more exciting. She had made everything more exciting. He liked arguing with her, he enjoyed seeing the way her forehead wrinkled whenever he managed to get a rise out of her. He relished the thought of hearing he scream in exasperation. And more often that not, he found himself trying to goad her into a fight. It really was quite simple the more he thought about it. He unashamedly, unabashedly, missed her.
AN: Another chapter and this time slightly longer than the others... Things are really shaping up in my head as to where this story is going. This will be kicking off soon!