Disclaimer: Not mine =(

Author's Note: Thanks to: woodspritethatconqueredpeople (you are so sweet for reviewing all of the chapters! THANK YOU!), Jade Riddle 19 (Yay, thanks, that really means a lot), LadyMysteri (I do believe I have time now! Here!), GrayAreas (Hey, I missed you! And she isn't bleeding because she bound up her arm...plus it happened yesterday and our Artie is too tough to let a little gunshot wound bother her.), Somebody (I hope you feel better! And I'm glad that my book helped you on the way to recovery! BTW, she became Tigress in teh Cave because she didn't think that she could win against teh Reds, she thougth she was trapped), bearrose (ooof, if you hated that cliffhanger, you're going to REALLY hate this upcoming one! And I did check out some of your stuff, very good, nicely done! Message me and we can chat), Wilhelmina Silver (1. I love your references, I get all of them and if you're a geek CELEBRATE! I actually have a T-shirt that says "Geek is Chic" with a hipster Kermit the Frog on it. It really doesn't get geekier than that, my friend. And I love the Star Wars/Titans connections, I'd never actually thought about that, but it does make sense. And yeah, I thought it fitting that our kick-ass damsel would rescue her dark knight. Nobody saves Artemis, it goes the other way around.)

"Oh, good, you decided to join me." Artemis said slowly, lazily.

"You didn't make it easy." It was true, she hadn't waited for them, instead choosing to zig-zag her way through the city, through alleys and between buildings. They'd almost lost her at least four times.

"I didn't have time. I actually have an objective here, whereas you people are just tagging along to see if I'm telling the truth."

"We know you're telling the truth." Robin said, sounding assured, giving Artemis a slight pause; had she accidentally let something slip when Megan had scanned her mind? No, she decided, whether she had or not, she couldn't worry about that now.

"Mhmm," Artemis said, nodding like an adult who is humoring an ignorant child, then nodded up at the building behind her. "Second floor. Third door on the right."

"How do you know?" Gah! Were they ever just going to take what she said at face-value? Then again, after the hell she'd put them through, she wouldn't believe herself either. Damn logic.

"Do you really think I would monitor the entire city and not keep tabs on my assassin father?" Artemis growled, then shot her grappling gun into the side of the building and let it lift her skyward. She would have preferred to scale the brick the old-fashioned way, but broken arm and time constraints didn't exactly allow that. Artemis cracked the window with her usable elbow and jumped through, ignoring the shards of glass that sliced open her arms and back. Not consequential. She needed to find Red, she'd already wasted too much time. Artemis found the third door and slipped in. She pulled herself up onto the ceiling, balancing precariously on the beams. She couldn't be seen.

Artemis padded across her beam, staying low – or as low as possible – and keeping her eyes open. She had to be smart about this. She couldn't go barreling into a dangerous situation without thinking it through. It was a new approach for her, but the last time she'd gone head-first into a fight with her dad, she'd gotten shot. That couldn't happen again, not to Red. Artemis's keen eyes swept the area; there were only two ways out: the door where she'd come in, and a window. She would need to make her own exit. Hey, she had an Atlantean and Kryptonian for that. Artemis thought briefly that it made things so much easier when she had backup, the forced the notion away. She was not rejoining with them, besides, they wouldn't want her anyway, not after everything that she'd done.

Artemis turned her attention back to scoping out the space. There didn't seem to be any other Shadows in the big space, which was typical, for him. Sportsmaster liked to do his own torturing, without an audience. When she'd laid out the logistics of the place, Artemis let her gaze zero in on the center of the room, the spot she'd been fastidiously avoiding since she had entered. If she let herself see what might be – hell, what almost definitely was – going on down there, she'd snap. She couldn't let her temper get away from her, or she'd do something she'd regret for sure. One look proved her fears to be completely accurate.

Red was chained to the ceiling, held up by his wrists. Artemis flashed back to the last time she'd been on a rescue mission, Robin had been held in that same position. But for Red, it seemed like the chains were thicker. And he looked a hell of a lot worse. Robin had been drugged by Cheshire; Red had clearly fought his captors every step of the way.

Sportsmaster was in the middle of conducting his "interview." "So, where has your girlfriend been hiding?" he demanded, sticking his face dangerously close to Red's. Too close. "I know she's been holed up in Gotham somewhere. Tell me where she is and I'll go easy on you."

Red barked out a hacking laugh. "Wouldn't you like to know? Guess you're not as smart as you think you are." Red returned, his words biting, not backing down. Artemis felt a surge of fierce pride, that froze into dread as her father stabbed a Tazer into Red's chest, with no kind of warning whatsoever. To his credit, Red didn't scream, just thrashed against the chains holding him up, his face contorted in pain. Artemis felt herself lose a modicum of control. She had to do something!

Don't even think about it. Miss Martian's voice ordered. Artemis refocused herself on the mental link, a little more than shocked to see that the others were viewing everything that was going on through her eyes.

Get the hell out of my head! Artemis snarled. I'm taking him out. Superboy, Aqualad, you're going to want to make your own entrance if you want to get your friend out of here. Then Artemis clicked off, silencing the voices. Without so much as a single thought to the consequences, Artemis leapt from the ceiling beam, flying to the floor as her father's arm came up again, a feral scream tearing from her lips. She hit the ground running, barely registering the pain that sliced up her legs and back, then shoved herself in front of Red, taking the Tazer in her chest. Artemis smiled, not even a smile, really, it was more of a crazed, triumphant smirk.

"Hiya, Daddy." Artemis spat the word like it was poison, then grabbed his arm, sending every watt of electricity that she had stored inside of her into him. She hadn't let her energy supply be depleted this badly before, but this was a special case. This was Father Dearest. Sportsmaster gasped and went down hard. Artemis turned to Red, and began working to pick the locks on the chains that bound him.

"You came," he whispered, his voice ragged. Artemis felt her hatred for her father boil up inside of her, then it dissipated like it had been no more substantial than smoke, replaced by nothing by a cold, bone-deep weariness. She sighed, too tired to keep up the ruse anymore. She just couldn't hurt him – hurt them – anymore.

"Of course I did, you idiot." Artemis murmured, resting her head on his chest for just a moment before breaking the chains. "Besides, I think that last time we talked, you promised me a date. And then there was something about cake...or maybe it's just that I want cake." Red – amazingly – laughed, more at her ability to make sarcastic quips at a time like this than anything else. Artemis was here. Here and his again. Artemis grinned, then all of a sudden her face contorted into a mask of shock and pain and she fell against him, limp. Red dropped to his knees, catching Artemis before she was able to fall.

There was a knife in her back.

Artemis stared up at the ceiling, her eyes blank and glassy; her breath came in short little gasps, unable to get enough oxygen.

"If I can't have her, no one can." Sportsmaster leered above them. Red glared up at him, snarling wordlessly and crouched protectively over Artemis, who was fading fast.

Guys, Artemis managed to send out a mental message, her mind growing dimmer and dimmer. Get in here. Save Red. There was a pause. Sorry.

ARTEMIS! The collective shout wasn't enough to keep her eyes open.

"Are you stupid?" Artemis's eyes opened wide. She let out a strangled little gasp; Athena was standing in front of her, glowering, with her hands on her hips.

"Athena?" Artemis said groggily, then jerked as the memories came back to her. "Oh damn, am I dead again?"

"Close." Athena said, still not cutting her any slack. "Why on earth did you turn your back to him, Artie? You know better than that!"

"I thought he was dead!" Artemis protested.

"You know better!" Athena repeated.

"Why are you here?" Artemis demanded suddenly.

"Because you're dying – again – and you need me here to keep breathing. Even though I think that you're an idiot for letting yourself get hurt again." Had death made her a whole different person? Athena was never this abrasive.

"I shouldn't live, not after everything I've done."

"Artemis!" Athena snapped, looking positively irate. "Stop it! God, you've turned in to such an insufferable martyr and you need to get your ass kicked!"

"Father Dearest already took care of that, thanks." Artemis said, her voice gaining an edge. She felt anger ignite inside of her. What the hell was up with her sister?

"I mean, come on, Artie, your friends want to be with you, they want to help you! Stop being such a loner and just go back with them! Did you think that the Joker was going to fill the void? You want a real dad? Go to Oliver. Want a family? Stay with your team. Have the life that I will never get to have." Artemis jumped up, her face livid.

"Don't you dare!" Artemis shrieked. "Don't even go there, Athena!" She threw a punch into a wall that was suddenly there, leaving a deep dent in the plaster. "I have almost let myself die for you! I am trying to kill our father for you. Hell! I'm not a psychopath because of you! You are in every part of my life, you are living through me."

"So don't let us die." Athena said calmly, starting to fade from view. "You have to live, now for the both of us." And then she winked out of sight.

Yeah, I went there. Possibly the shortest chapter I've ever written in my life, and yet, any longer any it would've been ruined! So I hope you enjoyed!

And I wanted a SUPER SPEEDY update for you guys because this weekend is kinda a wash as I am marching in the Veterans Day parade tomorre (bring on the band geek jokes) and then pulling an all-nighter thingie with a bunch of my friends. So I will only be semi-conscious for the rest of the weekend. Ergo, chapter gets written/posted now!

~Fae