Part 27: Illusionist meets Cliff

After Bart finished the rest of the food, Dinah and Chloe cleaned up the kitchen as Artemis stood by leaning against the counter adding color to the situation.

On the couch AC was joined by Victor and Oliver as they discussed the implications of Artemis's actions. AC was seemingly the most romantic of the group firmly decided that she was attracted to him. Oliver disagreed claiming that Artemis was protecting Dinah. Neither of them listened to Victor who said, "She did not act, she reacted."

Clark wasn't particularly interested in Artemis's choice and it seemed neither did Maya. She had wandered from the living room into Oliver's study. Following her Clark noticed her pensive expression. "Are you alright?"

Glancing at him, Maya smiled then looked passed him to the couch. "You're good friends with them?"

Nodding Clark glanced at her curiously. "Is there something you wanted to know?"

"I was just thinking about Dinah and Oliver." Maya shook her hair and blinked. "They aren't aware of how much they like each other."

Though Clark was often clueless in his own love life, he could see Oliver's attraction better than the archer himself. "He likes her. That's clear enough."

"He looked capable of murder when the Assassin was tricking Dinah." Maya lowered her voice so they were not overheard.

Turning Clark led her further into the study. "The fact that he couldn't decide who to kill—Dinah or the Assassin—proves how deep he is."

It was Maya's turn to be curious. "How can you tell?" She tilted her head to the side and back a bit, catching his eye.

"He's easy to read." Clark offered unhelpfully. Maya raised an eyebrow threateningly. "He protects her."

"She is in danger."

Clark shrugged. "I don't mean protecting her from harm—the Assassin or whoever ever is out to get her. I mean he wants to protect her from everything." He looked back over at his friends. "He is mad at the Assassin for tricking Dinah, but for threatening her. He wants to defend all of her."

"Dinah's going to take that well," Maya smiled. She caught Clark's eye and he turned to face her, but his features changed and she saw another. "Bruce," she breather, but he didn't look at her.

He was looking passed her. She turned and Oliver's study disappeared. Instead she was in a parking garage: Level M judging by the large M painted on the concrete. The lights of a city were visible between cement columns. Bruce was in Gotham. In danger.

A large black truck was headed towards him, several thugs piled in the back. Maya did not see him die. She turned too quickly and found herself outside. The sun was too bright; the grass was too clear. Color was set to over exposure. Dozens of black dressed mourners from employees to the latest dates cried as Bruce's casket was lowered passed the now almost neon grass.

Reaching out his arm Clark caught Maya as she mumbled He assumed she just turned too quickly. The moment he carried her into the living room everyone reappeared. Clark finally understood why people always said, "Let her breath"

Victor carried Maya to the guest room, Dinah at his heels. Artemis watched from the doorway. The blonde was suddenly unconscious, but her mind still seemed active. Dinah brushed Maya's hair from her face.

The half-man left but was stopped outside the door by Artemis's voice. "Is she alright?"

"She just seems to be in REM." Victor searched Artemis. Her posture was stiff. She was leaning against the frame, but he knew was she ready for a fight. She could not fight the mysterious source of Maya's concussion. He wanted to reassure her a little. "She'll be alright,: he lied.

Artemis moved from the door. "I have a theory," Oliver interrupted her halfway across the living room. "The assassin can throw illusions."

"No," Artemis corrected, "Maya can throw illusions; the Assassin can adapt power."

"Yeah," Oliver shook off the objection. "But he could use her power on her like he did to Dinah, right?"

"I suppose," Artemis said slowly.

Oliver held up his hands. "No, think about it. Everything that makes Maya seem disturbed is something she's seeing or hearing. He could be doing that."

"No," Artemis said simply, "he couldn't. Maya's power is a mirage. She can trick you vision, but she cannot create sound." She stopped walking a turned to the men. "But the first instance that I remember is her in the boiler room with a crying baby doll. She heard the cry."

AC shuffled his feet, while Oliver ran a hand through his blond hair. Clark sat on the couch and put his head in his hand. Glancing around at them, Bart asked, "Then what does that mean? For Maya?"

"It means I have a phone call to make." Oliver turned for the doors to his study.

"What are you doing?" Dinah appeared from the guest room and closed the door behind her.

Artemis finally sat down. "He's going to call a psychiatrist."

"And you're alright with this?" Dinah looked shocked at her friend.

"Dinah, you and I are the offense. We're the fighters and protectors. But do you see a way to fight this? I don't know what's happening to her. I'm not even sure she does, but I want to help her and this is the only way I know how." Artemis sighed looking down slightly with her head bent she looked defeated.

Dinah licked her lips. "What if your original theory was correct? Oliver is right; the Assassin confuses her with an illusion. And you said that the baby's cry could have been triggered by the heat."

"Is it possible?" Clark looked at Artemis as if she believed it were true then it would be.

Artemis rubbed her neck. "Yes, it is possible. Can we prove it?"

"There has to be a way to tell if it's an illusion." AC was thinking, choosing his words carefully. "A mistake or something?"

"How did you know that Olive wasn't Oliver?" Dinah asked and everyone in the room knew what she was referring to.

"I didn't," Artemis shrugged and Oliver's eyes narrowed. "Oliver did not have the time to get up to the fourth floor and have a conversation with you. But I didn't know for certain. Why do you think I shot him in the hand? If I knew it was the Assassin, I would have just killed him."

"But you're willing to risk maiming me," Oliver acted affronted.

Artemis cocked her head. "I don't recall you objecting when I helped your girlfriend."

"Hey, children," Victor interrupted. "Back to the point, is there a way to tell?"

"Every illusionist has a tell. Generally the problem concerns the reactions of the victim or knowledge that the thrower doesn't have." Dinah explained, but trailed off the last word as Artemis tilted her head furthered and looked off into the right into her memory. "What is it, Artemis?"

"I think I might have proof that someone's forcing illusions. Or maybe the crazy is spreading."

"What do you mean?" Dinah's eyebrows shot up in half-fear, half-worry. She instinctively reached for her knife, aware of how dangerous her foreign friend could be.

Artemis leaned back. "That night in the warehouse I was attacked by four men repelling from ceiling. At least I thought I was. But then they disappeared."

"As in teleported?" Bart asked.

"Dead men might find it difficult to teleport." Artemis sighed. "The thing is the last one was raising his gun, when I threw my knife at him. It was a sure hit, should have killed him instantly. Yet he had enough time to take aim and shoot me in the stomach. There was blood, but there wasn't any pain. Then I looked up and all four of them were gone."

AC frowned. "What are the odds that both of you started seeing things the same night?"

"But there are differences." Victor was more cautious than AC to assume that Artemis and Maya were both attacked with illusions. "Artemis was attacked, but she noticed the change and the attackers disappeared. That was clearly meant to scare her."

"But," Bart interrupted, "the Assassin has a particular dislike for Artemis, even before she kneed him in the groin. His motives behind scaring Artemis and harming Maya are very different."

"True," Oliver nodded. "But Maya has continued to have episodes."

"Or she's really having visions," Dinah offered.

Clark glanced up at her. "How?"

"How does any of this work? Does anyone know? That's most of what these secret labs are about, because even we don't know." Dinah met each of their gazes. "She saw the red head coming to attack her. She saw Clark and Artemis arguing. She saw Victor being thrown into the wall."

"Yeah, but she also saw us kiss." Oliver half-raised his hand as if in class.

Artemis saved his life. "Could be the future, but more likely at this moment that Maya saw what Dinah and the Assassin almost did."

Dinah's glare rounded from Oliver onto Artemis. "I didn't kiss him," she half-growled.

"Yeah," Bart pushed himself up on his hands and bent his legs beneath him, feet flat on the chair cushion. "It was you who did. So why didn't she see that?"

"Why didn't she see me shoot Ollie through the hand?" Artemis retorted ignoring the male archer, who a bit depressed about her willingness to risk him. "Why didn't she see anything of actual relevance?" Her voice was calm. "We don't know."

"We don't even know if she saw anything at all," Victor pointed out.

AC sat on the coffee table, defeated. "Is there anyway of knowing anything for sure?"

"There might be." Clark caught everyone's attention. "She said something before she passed out. If it was a vision, we could test what she saw."

"For what? Level of accuracy?" Bart failed to see how this could help.

Artemis caught Dinah's eye. Neither wanted to give up on Maya yet. "If she's wrong, we call the doctor."