A/N: So chapter 12..slow build up, and I'm going to say that in the next two chapters or so, there will be a cameo, and there will be catalysts popping up starting next chapter. Uh that's all...I think read and review.


Artemis gripped the half-conscious man's hair, dragging his limp body to the cage. Her eyes were focused on the table in which Fox, Salvatore, Kenzie and several other high ranking members of the Tenth Street Reds sat. With a small grunt she forced the man to his knees pulling out a combat knife that had been strapped to her inner thigh in a single motion. Sliding behind the man, whose hair she jerked back with a swift motion as she stared into the audience, ignoring the screaming spectators as she locked onto Fox's face.

It was an almost imperceptible nod of her head, but Artemis's action was swift as she jerked the knife across the man's throat. She didn't even blink as the last spurts of blood from a dying man splashed across her face, as the man weakly grabbed at his throat. Artemis studied the kneeling corpse before looking towards Fox, who once again gave her a small nod and she smiled and visibly relaxed. Artemis looked down at the man and frowned at the corpse in front of her, he had disrespected Fox, by demanding that she enter the cage with him. Without hesitation she placed her boot on the man's back and kicked him to the ground motioning for a towel.

"She's been trained well," Kenzie said to no one in particular, there was disgust in her voice as she turned her face away from the corpse in front of her.

Fox eyed the woman carefully; she had remained neutral in the civil war, preferring to watch on the sidelines. But it was a well-known fact that Kenzie loathed Artemis a result of the fact that Artie had killed Johnny. The two had butted heads a year ago, with Kenzie demanding blood. Artemis had shot her in response and since then they had been forced to stay apart. There was no doubt in Fox's mind that Kenzie merely avoided the issue out of fear of Artemis. She studied the teenager who was currently wiping the blood from her face; two years had been a long time; and she had constantly proved herself time and time again. It was why she had been given her own small crew in a trial run, but she had excelled in the leadership role. Taking her ragtag members she had turned them into a well-oiled machine, capable of doing whatever needed to be done, whether it be gun or drug running, taking care of the people who needed to die, or if it was simply offering protection.

People, important ones, were beginning to notice Artemis's determination. Of course that only elevated Fox higher up in the organization. If she could raise such an apprentice, what else was she capable of doing were questions that were being asked. It wouldn't be long till she was at the top of the pyramid, with the way Shepard was bringing her glory.

"It has nothing to do with training, she keeps on improving," Salvatore drawled, as he nodded in Artemis's direction. "The poor idiot didn't even know what he was getting into when Artie entered the cage." There was a murmur of agreement around the table as studied the interaction between Fox and Shepard.

Shepard had offered her winnings to Fox, who had declined and motioned for Artemis to pull up a chair and sit with them. The deference that Artemis showed Fox made him glad that Artemis wasn't particularly ambitious. It was clear to everyone that she would rise quickly through the ranks if she ever chose to turn her back on Fox. It was already clear to everyone that Artemis worshipped—no loved Fox. The question was, if that love was reciprocated, and if it was what type of love it was.

He had seen Fox's eyes lingering, the predatory gleam in her eyes when she looked at Artemis. He briefly wondered if she wanted to use sex as a mean to control Artemis like she had Bo. It wasn't even really about the sex, merely it was the act of capturing an untapped area of Artemis's heart, in an attempt to stop a possible conflict of interest. Bo had fallen for the child he was forced to protect, a paternal instinct of sorts and it had caused the rift that had led to his death. He doubted Fox was going to make the same mistake twice. The only wrench in the plan was Artemis showed little interest in men or women. He had heard about all her run-ins with Craven, and he had to wonder if that had permanently turned the girl off from any sexual activity at all.

"Is that my only job?" Artemis asked there was a disappointed tone in her voice, causing Salvatore to turn his attention back to the events at hand.

An amused chuckle escaped from Fox's lips, "You should feel honored that the Boss is specifically asking for you by name."

Artemis turned to Salvatore, "Isn't this your field?" Upon seeing the puzzled look on his features Artemis continued. "Babysitting," she added the last part dryly causing Fox and several other people to laugh at Artemis's statement.

Salvatore smiled, one which didn't reach his eyes. "What exactly are you talking about?"

Fox smiled as she picked up her glass of wine and sipped it, she hadn't been aware that Salvatore hadn't been aware that his position was being taken. "The boss has requested that Artie and her gang guard some daughter of one of his friends, while he's visiting. It seems that the poor thing is having father issues and is trying to run away constantly."

"So why didn't he ask me?" Salvatore protested shooting a look at Artemis, who met his anger with a steady gaze.

Fox ignored his pettiness, and waved her omni-tool over Shepard's, "The VKs are also getting a new shipment of military grade assault weapons," she trailed off not bothering to finish the sentence. Artemis knew what was expected.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Kenzie asked, "Rumor has it that there is a bit of a mutiny in her ranks. Apparently several of Artie's underlings have been vying for top spot. They don't seem to enjoy only getting a lousy five percent of the take." Kenzie smiled as she noticed the hint of discomfort on Artemis's features. "I only bring this up because stealing from the Vice Kings is generally a bad idea. And while Artie has managed to pull of several massive heists from them and has somehow managed to put the blame on other gangs, which was merely because her team was a well-oiled machine. If she screws up, a gang war will affect all of us."

A frown crossed Fox's faces as she turned to look at her young protégé who immediately looked the other way. Shepard had never kept anything this important from her; every last detail was run by her before Artemis made any move. "Who are they?" her voice was barely above a whisper, but a visible shivered ran down Artemis's spine.

She was going to be punished; there was no doubt in her mind. Fox had been embarrassed because she hadn't divulged what seemed to be important information. All because she wanted to deal with the problem herself and show Fox that she was very capable of taking care of herself, she might have ruined the trust that Fox had in her. "Bryan and Kaede, haven't done anything to jeopardize any of the missions. It hasn't been a problem."

"Yet they are still breathing," Salvatore drawled yet again. "There is a reason for a chain of command; however will you going to deal with this situation Fox?"

Artemis gritted her teeth and looked up at Fox, who merely took a sip of her wine in response and glanced at her, "We all have to deal with underlings thinking that they can replace us. I'm quite sure that Artemis will figure out how to deal with the situation in an appropriate way. I can't keep doing everything for her; she's supposed to be responsible."

Kenzie snorted, "You spoil the girl. It's no wonder she's lacking discipline and respect."

Fox frowned at Kenzie, "No one said she wasn't going to be punished for not bringing this to my attention earlier. I just don't see why everyone is making this to be a bigger deal than it is. We've all dealt with little shits attempting to take our place. In fact most of us have gotten this far because we did take someone else's place. And there others who merely kissed some ass to get where they are today, isn't that right Kenzie."

Artemis watched the exchange, wincing. There was no way she was going to get out of this predicament with merely a lecture, not with Kenzie and Salvatore pushing the right buttons.

"Not all of us have to stain our hands red with blood to get what we want. We've come a long way from our cavemen days," Kenzie sniped back.

"I take what I want, with the right amount of force. You merely spread your legs and like a common whore get what you want. I at least have my dignity, I heard that Sid had some pretty kinky tastes. Rumor has it that there might be some old vid."

Kenzie snarled at Fox reaching for her pistol, only to pause when she heard an all too familiar clicking noise. She glanced over at Artemis who had been seated beside Fox, only to notice that Artemis had already drawn her weapon and was pointing it at her. There was a lazy expression on Artemis's face but her eyes showed her intent, she wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if she felt Fox was being threatened. "If it wasn't for your little shadow, I assure you that you'd be dead."

Fox placed a hand on Artemis's wrist pushing it down and nodded towards the cage, "We can always settle this like men. I give you my word that I won't actually kill you. I'll just make sure you wish you were dead."

Kenzie snorted, she wasn't stupid, the Anvil was Fox's territory. "One day Artemis will not be there to watch your back and I'll be there. Hell I may not have to raise a finger you have more than enough enemies."

Artemis frowned inwardly; she had only become recently aware of how many people wanted Fox dead. Fox had explained then when you got to her level of success there were only more enemies to be had. "I'll always have Fox's back, I'll always be there," Artemis protested forcing Kenzie to acknowledge her.

"You're an idiot if you don't think that she'll make an enemy out of you as well," Kenzie sneered.

"I'm tempted to allow Artemis to redeem herself by pumping a bullet into that skull of yours. Do not threaten me Kenzie; everyone knows what becomes of my enemies."

Salvatore sighed and slammed his hand against the table causing all eyes to lock onto him, "No more fighting, the boss wasn't pleased about losing all those lieutenants Fox. You're still on probation with him. And Kenzie…don't threaten your betters. I will not protect you if Fox decides to throw caution to the wind, like she's bound to do." Kenzie sneered at him in response, while Fox pulled her chair back and stood up.

"Artemis," She called out as she began to walk away pausing to look over at Salvatore studying the man. "See you later tonight?" she asked.

Salvatore glanced over at Artemis, only to see her meet his gaze with her usual vacant look, before turning his attention back to Fox, "Of course."

"Slut," Kenzie muttered under her breath.

"Whore," Fox replied without missing a beat as she left the Anvil, Artemis only a few steps behind her. It wasn't until they were well clear of the Anvil that Fox turned on her silent companion.

"Is there a reason you didn't tell me about Bryan and Kaede?" Fox asked quietly.

Artemis blinked and studied the ground suddenly ashamed of her pride, "Bryan and Kaede are idiots, and mostly all talk. I didn't think that it was something that would interest you."

"You thought you could handle this on your own didn't you? Have we gotten to the point where you believe that you know more than me?"

Artemis immediately shook her head, "I wanted to show you that I wasn't completely useless. I should have come to you and told you what was going on instead of keeping it from you."

Fox was quiet for a moment as if she were mulling over what to do, "Unfortunately due to your disrespect the others, they have called for your head on a platter. Have I spoiled you Artemis? Must I teach you respect the hard way?" When Artemis didn't answer Fox sighed almost dramatically. "Be at the warehouse tomorrow at noon. If you make me look for you, well you know the punishment will be worse." Seeing Artemis give her a single nod, Fox seemed satisfied and turned her back to the woman and headed to her vehicle.

Artemis waited until Fox was gone before slumping against a nearby vehicle. It had been a little over two years since she had to endure the warehouse. The place where she had been tortured for what seemed like days still haunted her memories. And she was older now, Fox wouldn't hold back this time.


"Is that satisfactory?" Fox turned away from Artemis's naked body to look at Salvatore's face.

Salvatore tore his eyes away from the unconscious teenager's body to look at Fox, "You enjoy this too much," he stated simply as she walked up to where Artemis was hanging to study the damage.

Fox glanced downwards as Salvatore passed her, "I see I'm not the only one who enjoyed myself."

Salvatore ignored the jab and ran his hand down Shepard's ribs, resting the appendage on her hip, "She's beautiful you know. Are you going to control her like you did Bo? If you have no intention of doing that, please allow me to have her."

Fox was quiet and watched Salvatore's hand, "Do not touch her Salvatore. She's off-limits to everyone in the gang. Spread the word, no one is to touch her."

Salvatore pulled his hand away and watched as Fox slowly began to put away her tools, "There is no guarantee that she will love you like Bo loved you, at least not in that way. She already idolizes you Fox; everything she does is done with the intention to keep you happy."

"Bo tried to kill me in the end, and I promised never to make the same mistakes. I will be the only person she needs in her life, the only person she truly loves."

Salvatore frowned and shrugged, the day that Artemis realized she was enslaved would be the end of Fox. He knew that and it was becoming obvious to everyone else as well. Well everyone except Fox, "I'll spread the word."

With that topic done, she and Salvatore unshackled Shepard. With a bit of effort they gently laid her down and Fox immediately waved Salvatore off, as she begun to work on Artemis's body. She applied medi-gels and slowly stitched up the rather deep laceration on Shepard's side. With nothing to numb the muscles, Shepard's body jerked away reflexively and a low moan escaped her lips. Fox glanced up at Artemis's face, but the teen didn't wake up. She immediately went back to her work finishing a few minutes later. Without a word she stood up and grabbed Artemis's pistol and placed it on top of Artemis's neatly folded clothes and placed the package beside Shepard's body. As a finishing touch she placed a bottle of water near Artemis's clothes.

She paused for a moment and glanced down at Artemis's face, without thinking she gently brushed a strand of hair out of the face of her protégé. Bo had done an excellent job teaching her. This was one of the moments that she missed the bastard the most. His last words to her still rang clearly in her head, his warning. There were times when she wondered if it would be simpler to merely eliminate the threat, but in her line of work she needed someone to watch her back. Artemis watched all sides and general saw the threat before it was too late. She was better than Bo had ever been. It was why she couldn't make the same mistake; she wouldn't allow Shepard to find love anywhere else. Bo had been torn between two loyalties; Artemis would never face the same problem. Her world would begin and end with Fox.

Activating her omni-tool she quickly sent Artemis a message, before leaving the warehouse closing the massive doors behind her. Artemis would eventually find her way back to her.

It was nearly an hour later before Artemis eyes flickered open, immediately she felt the fire in her throat and slowly moved her hand upwards to massage it. Fox had made her scream until her voice had given out from the strain. She had then proceeded to mock her, daring her to cry to beg for forgiveness. But she knew better, weakness no matter what was not to be tolerated. Her joints felt sore, her shoulders ached probably due to supporting her entire body weight for an extended amount of time. She let out a small groan and sat up, ignoring the stabbing pain that was coming from her abdomen and the burning sensation that was coming from her side. She had ripped her stitches judging by the blood that had begun to run down her side. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath as she picked up the bottle of water and drank it.

The water may have been warm but she finished drinking it and slowly forced herself to her feet, picking up her clothes. She stumbled a biting onto her lip hard enough to draw blood to keep herself from whimpering. Leaning against the wall of the warehouse for support she slowly slipped on her pants, gritting her teeth and keeping her eyes closed, trying to shake the images from her thoughts.

Finally dressed Artemis immediately checked her omni-tool, and read the message that Fox had sent her. She frowned, even though the message was simple. Fox had given her permission to deal with the situation as she saw fit, so why did she have to go through this. With Salvatore watching, the humiliation had been a bit much and there had been times where Artemis had wanted to beg Fox to make him look the other way. Shame wasn't an emotion that she was used to, and the look that he had been giving her made her feel physically ill. She once again banished the thoughts, suddenly just wishing that she was at home in her bed but she still had a job to do. With some effort she holstered her gun and dragged herself out of the warehouse and kept walking, letting the blood flow properly to her abused legs and arms. Even with the pain Artemis walked to a nearby bus stop, collapsing on the bench as she waited for the bus.

As she waited, her mind flew over what to do about the insubordination. Fox tortured those who dared to stand against her, many of them ended up dead. Salvatore made sure they disappeared never to be found again. Kenzie made sure to ruin their lives anyway she could, before killing them and everyone they cared about. All of those seemed like more work and pointless exercises to scare their remaining subordinates into behaving. Until someone wanted to face their fears again and stopped toeing the imaginary line in the sand, and acted out. It was a vicious cycle, she needed the people who she was responsible for to trust her decisions. Part of the reason she hadn't mentioned Bryan and Kaede to Fox was because she didn't really want to kill them. There were already enough people gunning for the Reds, they didn't need to start killing of their own to help with that. At least that's what Bo had taught her. With a bit of effort she activated her omni-tool she knew what she had to do.


Artemis limped into what used to be Bo's apartment. Technically it was hers now, a reward from Fox for her role in the massacre. The thought of living in this house made her feel guilty, so she had converted her childhood home into a safe-house. It was also a place where she could meet with her crew, which was why there were currently ten teenagers lounging around the apartment.

"You look like shit boss," One of the teens said loudly causing the rest of them to look at Shepard who are currently leaning against the doorway in attempt to keep herself still standing. "Did the Vice Kings do this to you?"

"No way, have you ever seen anyone stupid enough to go toe to toe with the boss Avery?" Stewart sniped back at Avery. As he said this he immediately went to Artemis's side, in an attempt to help her to a couch.

Gritting her teeth through the pain, she pushed Stewart away refusing his help. With a small grunt of exhaustion mixed with pain, Artemis straightened her back and gracefully walked to the empty seat. With the same amount of effort, she slowly sat down and looked at each member of her crew. A part of her still couldn't believe that Fox had allowed this. "You honestly think that a bunch of VK's could do this to me?" she asked turning her head to Avery. Even through the pain expression that was evident on her face, Artemis's eyes danced with amusement and arrogance.

"So if not the VK's then who? Who did this to you?" Avery pressed; there was a hint of worry in her voice.

Artemis shrugged in response, almost instantaneously regretting the action as her body throbbed in pain, her muscles protesting every movement. She inhaled slowly and counted to three before answering Avery's prying. "What you see is what happens when someone, anyone of you does something stupid." Her gaze fell on two teenage boys who suddenly wilted under her intense gaze.

Avery frowned, everyone knew about Artemis's relationship with Fox. But ever since she had joined the Reds a year ago, she had never seen the older woman so much as strike Shepard. "Fox did this to you?" She had heard the rumors of course. Nearly everyone believed that Fox was slowly losing her mind, personally she believed that Fox was simply a psychopath, who got off on causing people pain. Which was why she was confused as to why Artemis worshipped the ground Fox stood on. They were nothing alike, in fact the few times that she had observed Fox's and Artemis's relationship it was evident that Artemis was someone else when Fox was around.

"Fox didn't have a choice," Artemis said defending Fox. "Bryan and Kaede," she paused for a moment as if still debating what their punishment was going to be. "Bryan and Kaede, have been running their mouths to the wrong people. They personally believe that they could run this crew better than I could, isn't that right Bryan?" Artemis flicked her eyes towards the taller of the two teenagers, who ran a hand through his dusty blonde hair. He was the smarter of the two, which wasn't saying much considering that they were in this current predicament.

He scowled as he finally moved his gaze up to meet Artemis's, "It's not fair that you get a bigger percent of the cut than we do, we could do the same job you do, and we should get a bigger cut."

Avery snorted, "Like hell you can, you two dipshits are the lookouts."

Stewart nodded in agreement a look of disgust on his features, "Shitty ones at that, how many times has one of these two morons fallen asleep on the job."

"Look at that your stupidity is one of the few things Avery and Stewart agree on," Artemis added dryly causing the named teenagers to glare at her. She was used to them sniping at each other; both were in a race to be her second in command. "I have no problem with you two plotting to kill me, because everyone in this room knows you will never win."

Bryan snarled at her and immediately reached for his fire weapon, only to hear the rustle of several guns being removed from their holsters. All of them pointed at him and Kaede. He slowly pulled his gun out of the front of his pants and tossed it onto the ground, slowly looking at each member of their small team. "She's fucking wounded right now, we could easily take her. This maybe our only chance," he protested hoping to turn them against Artemis.

The boy beside him began to nod furiously, "Think of the money we could make."

Avery resisted the urge to just shoot them, "Are you fucking stupid? You honestly think that we'd take your side over Artemis's?"

Artemis watched the scene in front of her and sighed, "And on the off chance that you managed to kill me in some freak accident, then what? You think Salvatore would stand for it, any of the lieutenants? Or do you plan to kill all of them as well?" When Bryan looked away, Artemis resisted the urge to groan. They hadn't though this through. Ignoring her muscles protesting Artemis stood up and pulled her shirt up so that everyone in room could see the damage. The bruises, the burn marks, the cuts, the welts. "This is only a fraction, a sliver of what Fox is capable of when she is angry."

Avery winced and looked away, she didn't know how Fox could do this to Artemis. She had no idea why Artemis had taken the full brunt of Fox's wrath either. The woman was truly psychopathic if she could do this to her protégé.

Stewart frowned and holstered his weapon stepping close to Artemis and tracing one of the burns on her side, "Why didn't you?" he asked softly, beating Avery to the chase. When Artemis winced away and looked at him, he continued. "Tell Fox about those two knuckleheads."

Artemis winced as she fell back onto the chair, "Fox gets a cut of the profits, but all of you are part of my crew. You're my responsibility, if I had gone to Fox she would have told me to put in a bullet in their heads, and anyone else who I suspected of being in on it." Artemis nodded towards Bryan and Kaede, "I think they are idiots, and I don't want to gut my team and start over. Being stupid is not something that I think you should die for, so I didn't tell Fox to protect all of you from her. She—"Artemis paused suddenly hearing Johnny's voice in her head. "Fox likes screaming, and she will make sure you scream. Chances are you won't survive the torture. Or you'll beg for death. So I will take Fox's anger, to protect you from her."

Avery turned to stare at Artemis; a wave of respect filled her. She hadn't expected Shepard to go cross Fox for them. She glanced at Stewart he was just as surprised. Maybe there was a chance that Artemis was finally rebelling, and she had no doubt that Artemis knew that action would cost her if Fox ever found out.

Artemis turned to Avery a rare smile flashed across her face, to be replaced the usual grim one. "I need people I can trust. Stewart, Nikola please escort Bryan and Kaede out of my house. You're done working for me."

"You're kicking us out?" Kaede asked horror in his voice and on his face.

"You don't have the power to strip us of our flags," Bryan sneered, ignoring the pleading look that Kaede was giving him. "You're just Fox's bitch, one who she clearly whips. Does she fuck you too? The rumor is you're her fucking slut. Seen that bitch looking at you too, like she wants to taste some of your sweet little-"

Stewart immediately decked the older boy, causing him to fall backwards. With little hesitation he began to kick and stomp at Bryan, "Insolent little shit, learn your place."

Artemis raised her hand, forcing Stewart to pull back after giving out one last opportunistic kick. "No one is making you drop your flags," Artemis's voice was barely above a whisper, a look of annoyance crossed her face. "I don't care if you want to go work for Kenzie, or Salvatore you're just not running with us anymore. Find someone else to put up with your bullshit. Now please Stewart remove the trash." She watched Stewart roughly picking up Bryan, "If you see either of them skulking around please tell me. You all have my permission to shoot on site," she announced to her crew.

Shepard studied the remaining teenagers resting her eyes on Avery, "Can you and Stewart get along well enough to go case a place while I recover? It's the one in the message I sent you."

Avery nodded trying to keep a positive look on her face. She hated the kiss-ass, but with Artemis down for the count it was probably the best time to prove to her that she could be a second in command. "I'll behave, just this once," Avery shot a dazzling smile at Artemis who gave her a weak smile back before she finally succumbed to sleep. Avery immediately turned back to the crew, quickly taking charge before Stewart could come back and challenge her command. "Let's give the boss some space people."