Disclaimer: Same old, same old...
Author's Note: I'm almost at 60 reviews! Supermegaepicdanceofhappiness! WOOT WOOT! Special thanks to (as always) GrayAreas, Coconuat, Boomihavearrived, xstoriexluvrx, and shadow rose2717. Oh, and Boomihavearrived, keep reading my stuff, because I'm almost done with a one-shot inspired by youuuuu!
Author's Note #2: Okay, so I'm going to camp today and I won't be back until Saturday...I sincerely apologize for the agonizingly long wait, but just keep reviewing and rating! Let's get the rewview count over 70 for this chapter!
Lawrence stepped out of the shadows, leering wolfishly at his daughter.
"You look beautiful," he said, still sneering. In the shadowy half-light, his face looked like a grinning skull.
"And here I was, thinking that you didn't really care." Artemis snarled softly, simply itching to whip out her bow and impale his icy heart. And this time, she would make sure that he died. "Why are you here, Dad?" she asked.
"Does a father need an occasion to visit his daughter?" Artemis glared. She knew that this could get very violent, very fast, but Lawrence was up to something and she had to trust that she was good enough to evade – or, hopefully, fight – him if it came to it. "Actually, I came because I have a problem with the company you're keeping." Artemis had just a second to tense before Lawrence launched forward and clasped his hand around her wrist, dragging her away from the party. Artemis fought, but it was no use. She was in a dress, in heels, making it so much harder to struggle, and Lawrence had always been able to manhandle her.
"Let go!" Artemis hissed, not raising her voice. She knew better than to draw attention to herself. That would just end in more casualties.
"Oh no, kiddo, we have got to talk." Lawrence forced her through a back door and out into an alley behind the building, then slammed his daughter against the brick wall, pinning her there by her throat. "So, my daughter is in with the Justice League." Lawrence snarled. "I always knew that you were weak, but this is a new low, even for you"
"Coming from you, daddy?" Artemis choked on her laughter, earning her a backhand slap across the face. "That's...a...compliment." She spat out a mouthful of blood. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Artemis wondered where GA was. Wasn't he hearing all of this? Then she remembered: she'd turned off her damn comm! And told Red not to follow her. Artemis grimaced; she was on her own. Lawrence released her abruptly, taking a few steps back.
"Let's see, shall we?" Lawrence taunted her. "Let's see if the new hero can't beat her old dad." Artemis straightened, wiping blood from the corners of her mouth.
"Screw you!" she panted. Artemis knew that she was going to lose this fight, and she knew Lawrence knew it. It was just a matter of how long he would draw it out.
"No no, language," Lawrence tsked, surging forward. Artemis didn't even have time to brace herself before she felt the blows to her stomach and back, forcing her to her knees, out of breath, spots flying behind her eyes. "It's funny, really, how easy it was to leak false information to the League. A bit ridiculous, too, when all I wanted to do was talk to my darling daughter." Artemis fumed. It had been a set-up, and she'd played right into it!
"This...is your idea...of talking?" Artemis wheezed, trying to distract him. She stayed on the ground just long enough to reach up and touch her comm earring before trying to get back to her feet. Hopefully, Green Arrow was still listening.
"Not a chance, kiddo." Lawrence snarled, shoving Artemis to her feet, but not before gifting her with a swift kick in the chest. "You think I don't know a comm when I see one? But I'll let you off the hook for that one because I have a little message to your mentor: I'll be watching you, Artemis. Oh, and Green Arrow? Sportsmaster here. I'll give you a little free advice: Next time I'd do a more thorough background check on your sidekicks; this one's got quite a history." Artemis swore violently, lashing out, but it was no use, she was weak and oxygen-deprived. She really didn't stand a chance. Lawrence clubbed her over the head and, again, Artemis saw stars dancing, clouding her vision, but she didn't cry out.
"Good job. You're remembering what I taught you. Never show weakness."
"Never show fear." Artemis whispered, almost out of habit. The mantra was one she'd heard over and over during her training years. It was permanently ingrained in her brain. Lawrence chuckled and suddenly he was gone. Artemis collapsed to the ground, unable to hold herself up, her head swimming, but she managed to unhook one of the knives from her shoe's heel and hurled it at the shadows where he'd disappeared. From the darkness, Artemis heard a wet thunk and a grunt of pain, but other than that, the night had gone completely still.
"Kid?" GA's voice sounded in her earpiece, sounding horrified and scared. It was strange, she never heard him sound like that before. "Artemis?" he cried when she didn't answer.
"There is no...need...to shout." Artemis gasped. "I can...hear you."
"Where is Roy?" Green Arrow demanded. "Why did you let yourself be alone with Sportsmaster?"
"It was a setup. He gave you...false intel to...get to me." The oxygen was burning her lungs, bringing tears to her eyes. "That son of a bitch!" she spat venomously, bringing on a whole new round of tears. "I can't...believe...he played me...like that."
"Are you okay?" GA asked, worriedly, "Roy is coming now, don't move."
"Not...a problem." Artemis was pretty sure that she couldn't walk if she wanted to. She quickly ran a physical diagnosis. Warm, sticky blood was running freely from cuts on her face and forehead, but they were the least of her worries, head wounds always bled a lot. Artemis knew that tomorrow there would be ugly bruises on her neck and at least one of her ribs was definitely broken.
"Artemis!" Took him long enough, Artemis thought.
"Hey, Red." Artemis croaked. Instantly, the redheaded archer rushed forward and lifted Artemis into his arms. No... What was it with this boy and boundaries? Artemis wondered, fighting panic. He was, yet again, far too close for her comfort.
"What the hell happened?" Red demanded.
"Sportsmaster." Artemis spat. All of a sudden, Red went rigid again, like the last time Artemis had said something was wrong. "And you knew. You went and let him do this."
"Like you care." Artemis snapped, on nothing but pure reflex. She hated being criticized, especially by a boy she barely knew and had threatened her yesterday. "And put me down! I can handle myself."
"Clearly." Red shot back, ignoring her. "You're bleeding, there are finger marks on your neck and GA will kill me if I let you bang yourself up even more."
"Kid!" And then there were three. Was everyone going to be privy to her humiliation? Why didn't they just invite Batman to the party?
"I'm fine." Artemis insisted, lying through her teeth. "Put me down!"
"Not a chance." Artemis thrashed weakly and started yelling, almost incoherently.
"Oliver!" she cried, finally. "Just slap on some band-aids and let me go home. I. Am. Fine." Green Arrow frowned, worry creasing his eyebrows. He knew that this was all for show. Sportsmaster had really gotten to her. What had he said to her when Artemis was offline?
"No," GA said quickly. "I need to get you help. You could have internal bleeding, for all I know." Artemis turned toward her mentor, panic shining suddenly in her usually cool gray eyes.
"No hospitals." Artemis said, her voice shaking. She really couldn't help it, Lawrence had scared the hell out of her. Just because she refused to show fear didn't mean she never felt it. If she went to the hospital now, with it's horribly antiseptic smells and the threat of death forever lingering in the air, she'd break down completely. That, Artemis knew that for a fact. "I swear to God, Oliver, if you take me to a hospital..." It was an empty threat and they all knew it, but Green Arrow couldn't bring himself to take her to the hospital when she'd asked him not to. Artemis never asked for anything, at least not seriously. That, combined with her using his real name while they were on hero duty, meant that something was incredibly wrong.
"Come on, Roy," GA said, making his decision. "We're going to my place."
By the time the ex-partners had arrived at Oliver's apartment, Artemis had passed out cold, whether from her various wounds or from exhaustion, neither of the archers knew.
"Let her be," Oliver said, uncharacteristically serious, when Roy tried to wake her. Roy felt a stab of jealousy. Oliver actually trusted this girl, trusted her to the point that he was protecting her from the League by pretending that she was his niece – and, clearly, she wasn't – and then again by letting her into his home. It had taken months of proving himself before Oliver even considered opening up to him.
"I need an explanation." Roy said, unable to watch Oliver treating his replacement any longer. Sure, Oliver had patched him up loads of times, but it always had been business, he needed to be healthy so he could get his job done. It was always...less personal. When Oliver looked at Artemis, it was like he was seeing – caring for – the daughter he never had. For Roy, it was borderline unbearable to watch.
"What kind of explanation?" Oliver asked, looking wary. Protecting Artemis again.
"We both know she's not your niece." Roy hated that his voice sounded so petulant, so childish. "And if she's not related to you, who is she?"
"Roy – " Oliver started.
"No. Don't "Roy" me. I want the truth, Oliver, I deserve the truth." Just like he deserved to be shown the real HQ of the Justice League, but that wasn't the issue now. Oliver didn't look at him for what felt like a long time, busying himself by reapplying a bandage to a nasty cut on Artemis's forehead. Again, Roy was felt jealously twisting in his gut.
"She's just a kid, Roy, with a hell of a lot of family issues and a lot of anger. I can't tell you who she is or why we're lying to the rest of the team, but she's my responsibility and I trust her. Get it?" Yeah, yeah, he got it. "But she is not your replacement." Oliver said again. "You were my first...partner, and you're always welcome by my side."
"Granted that I deal with her, though, right?" Oliver's face didn't change, but his eyes went flat and opaque.
"Yes. Artemis is my protege now, but who says a hero can only have one?" Roy didn't answer that, he was too busy raging within his thoughts. Yes, he was the one who'd wanted to be respected, which was why he left the Hall that day in the first place, but he never thought that he'd be replaced by a girl whose origin was a secret. Was she really that dangerous? More importantly, was he really that forgettable?
Neither hero would stand down, until, finally, a machine beeped in the corner.
"Roy, please stay here." Oliver said, taking a vial of blood in his fingers, then grabbing a flash drive out of a oddly compact machine that Roy figured belonged in a medical center.
"Why should I?" Roy snapped.
"Because I need to leave. And because, unfortunately, they don't make at-home CT scans and I can't analyze the blood here, either." Oliver attempted a weak smile that Roy didn't return. "Just – just stay put and watch her in case she wakes up, alright?"
"Why. Should. I?" Roy asked again, his voice dangerously low.
"Because I asked you to, Roy, as a favor to me." To that, Roy had no retort. Oliver had saved his butt on many occasions and had never asked for anything in return. Now that he finally was, Roy couldn't turn him down. Damn.
Oliver took his silence as a confirmation and started to leave. "Oh, and if she does wake up, do not let her get to her bow. She will shoot you."
"Like she could hit me." Roy said snidely, finding his voice. Oliver raised an eyebrow.
"She's hit me." And that was all he said before he left. It wasn't long after that Roy started choking on a tidal wave black anger. It was suffocating him. What the hell did this girl have that he didn't have? Why was she so special? And why, of all things, did Oliver act like she was such a danger to him? She was a goddamned fifteen year old girl! There was no way she should've been better than him, there was no way she should've replaced him! On the Team, or as Oliver's partner.
"God damn it!" Roy shouted suddenly, smashing his fist into the wall and leaving a nice-sized crater there.
He was so engrossed in his own rage that he didn't notice the girl starting to stir on the couch
Someone is shouting, Artemis thought absently. Why are they shouting? What is going on? Where am I?
Then, all in a rush, it all came back to her. The party...Lawrence...Lawrence!
"Dad!" she screamed. "Hãy đ tôi mt mìnhđa ngc ni mà bn thuc v và tránh xa tôi!Tôi s không cho phép bn làm tn thng chúng ta na!" Leave me alone! Go to hell where you belong and stay away from me! I won't let you hurt us anymore! Artemis couldn't understand why she'd reverted to Vietnamese, or why there was another boy in Oliver's apartment, looking wary and tense, but she knew that she was in danger and that she had to protect herself. Ha! Artemis almost crowed with glee when she snatched her purse and found her bow still folded up inside it. In two seconds, the bow was assembled and nocked and Artemis was standing, ready and eager, ignoring the pain that throbbed through her entire body. She was ready for some good, old-fashioned ass-kicking.
"Where is he?" Artemis snarled at the boy, who, now that she was armed, didn't look wary anymore, just looked pissed. But he was just a triviality, if he got in the way, she'd cut him down without a second thought. "Where is my father?" Artemis repeated, tightening her hold on the bow.
"Your father?" the boy drawled, purposefully being unhelpful. Artemis growled in frustration and shot an arrow at his head.
"My father, Sportsmaster, whoever!" Artemis shouted. "Where the hell is he?" Ooh, so this one thinks he can shoot too, Artemis thought derisively, seeing the boy whip out a bow of his own. We'll see.
"Sportsmaster?" the boy asked, loosing an arrow his own. Artemis dodged it clumsily, inhibited by various injuries that she couldn't remember receiving, but guessed that had been inflicted by her father. Another reason she wanted to pierce his heart with an exploding arrow. Let him come back from that. "Your father is Sportsmaster?"
"What does it matter?" Artemis snarled.
"Artemis!" Artemis whirled, trying to suppress the nausea that was roiling in her stomach and surging up her throat. Oliver? Where had he come from? Artemis's eyes narrowed. And why was he standing with the boy who was sheltering her murderous excuse for a father? "What are you doing, kiddo?" Oliver asked gently. Artemis didn't lower her bow, still wondering what he was doing with the boy. A boy who was looking more and more familiar every second. Artemis still didn't know who he was, but she sure as hell didn't like him.
"Oliver?" Artemis mumbled, not understanding. "Where is my dad?"
"Why did you come back?" the boy hissed to her mentor.
"I heard a crash." Oliver answered him, ignoring Artemis's mounting confusion. "Why did you let her get a bow. I told you that this would happen." Wait, what?
"Where is he?" Artemis demanded, forcing their attention back on her.
"Artemis, Sportsmaster is gone. He was there for you, remember? He tricked us into letting you out into the open. Remember?" Was that what had happened? Artemis took another look at the boy beside her mentor. Red hair, blue eyes that were hard with anger and hate. Red.
A hazy blood-crimson fog lifted over Artemis's eyes. Funny how she never even noticed that it was there until it was gone. Slowly, cautiously, she lowered her bow, eying the two other archers suspiciously.
"Yes. I remember." Artemis said, and she did. Red hadn't been harboring Lawrence, he'd been with her...had she fallen asleep? Because she couldn't remember coming into the apartment.
"So, family issues? That's the understatement of the year." Red said, smirking hugely, turning to Oliver. Immediately, Artemis's head snapped up as she remembered what she'd said to him during her hazy, anger-induced fog. Oh crap! Artemis swung herself back into a defensive position, arrow nocked and aimed. To her complete surprise, Oliver's position mirrored her own. Artemis wasn't surprised, however, that he had a bow on him, even in his civvies. Archers were always prepared.
Red looked between the two of them, his expression tap-dancing the line between fear and...betrayal? What was that about? Artemis wondered, then snapped herself out of it. Don't let your concentration waver. Lawrence's voice shouted in her head. Artemis stiffened. She hadn't had a flashback in months. Tonight was one hell of a setback in her little quest of "forgetting Lawrence."
"Oliver?" Red's lips barely moved, but his voice still reverberated with pain. So the big, bad bad-ass had a soft side?
"What she said to you, you cannot repeat." Oliver said sternly. Artemis was proud of him, he sounding like he was channeling Batman.
"Ever." Artemis interjected, glaring. Red said nothing.
"Roy, I need your word on this." Oliver ordered.
"Fine. You have it." Red snarled, then shot Artemis a look that was – there was no other way to describe it – downright murderous. Artemis was startled slightly by the venom in his gaze; if looks could kill, she'd be six feet under. He didn't say anything more, just walked out. No swearing, no more evil looks, he just shouldered his bow and left.
"Artemis, are you feeling okay?" Oliver said, after casting a concerned look over his shoulder at the door.
"I'm fine." Artemis said for what felt like the millionth time that night. "I see you patched me up."
"And you tried your very best to hurt yourself again." Oliver said, smiling slightly. Then all of a sudden he got very serious. "But, Artemis, come on, do you know how incredibly stupid it was to let yourself be alone in a dark alley with Sportsmaster, of all people? Not only is he a sadistic maniac, he's your father and he had a grudge against you. He could've killed you, Artemis. Do you realize that?" Of course she realized that, she'd freaking been stuck with the man for five years. She knew how he was, he was her parent, for God's sake!
"I know!" Artemis cried. Wait, her parents... Then, to Oliver's astonishment, she started laughing.
"What is wrong with you?" Oliver demanded, bringing on a whole new round of laughter. Artemis couldn't stand it – it was just too damn funny!
"Oh my God!" Artemis gasped finally, wiping the tears from her eyes. "My mom is going to kill you!"
Come on, you know it's true. Paula is going to kick some Green Arrow butt! MWAHAHAHAHA!
See you guys Saturday!
~Fae