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Summary:Artemis Crock, sister to the notorious assassin Cheshire, daughter of the ruthless Sportsmaster and merciless Huntress. She was raised in the League of Shadows, groomed to become the killers like her relatives, but she didn't want that, not really. When the Justice League catches her, the Green Arrow offers her something she can't refuse. A chance at freedom. AU.
Chapter Two
Wonder Woman flew under the rails that Superman held allowing her to reach the smaller assassin, though she believed this one was too small to be a killer. Diana had to remind herself not to judge an opponent on size alone. In one swift movement she lifted the blue clothed girl into her arms and flew her out of harm's way while Superman moved to find the other with the Cheshire mask.
As Wonder Woman flew to the javelin, she glanced down at the unconscious girl in her arms. She found that half of her mask had been singed, but luckily the flames hadn't touched her face. It was a shame to see someone so young involved in this, someone who should have had a normal and good life has been as lace to the shadows for who knows how long. The superhero landed on the open ramp of the javelin where Batman was waiting for her.
"Superman is scouting the area for the other one, he will meet us here shortly," said Wonder Woman as she approached the Gotham knight.
Batman replied, "He won't find her. According to the heat scanners, she's gone."
"Perhaps she went underground," suggested the heroine.
Batman didn't deny her claim, "Perhaps."
Wonder Woman placed the girl down on the cot behind the pilot and passengers area. It upset her to see someone so young caught it in something so dark.
"What are the circumstances surrounding this place," asked Wonder woman, "You said we needed to come here because of a growing situation, but you wouldn't tell us what it was, why?"
Batman sighed, "The growing situation involving the facility isn't related to the girl. I considered the Shadows would be here, but not their secret duo."
"A secret duo," inquired the dark haired woman, her interest peaked.
"In a manner of speaking, Cheshire and Alice are two of their top assassins," explained Batman as he turned back to the javelin's computer screen, "Once we're in a secure area I will explain the importance of the facility. In the meantime, our next move needs to get her to another location and have her questioned."
"She should receive medical attention at the WatchTower," said Superman as he landed soundlessly behind Wonder Woman, the Javelin ramp closing after him.
Batman withheld a scowl at the idea of bringing this girl to the watchtower. He figured it would be better to bring her to their nearby holding areas, or even their fake watchtower at the hall of justice. But he knew the superhero meant neither of those places.
"Are you sure that's a good idea," questioned Batman.
Superman raised one eyebrow, "Why wouldn't it be? She needs medical attention and we'll have to ask her questions."
"Yes, but we would be brining a member or in this case junior member of the League of Shadows into our base of operations," stated Batman, his eyes slightly narrowed at the girl behind his cowl.
Wonder Woman folded her arms over her chest, "She'd be under constant guard and won't have an idea as to where the tower is. Not to mention, the chances of her escaping the watchtower become slim to none. Any other place gives her more opportunities to get away."
Superman looked sadly at the girl, "At this moment we don't have a choice, we need information from her as well as to make sure she is alright. She's a kid after all."
Batman barely held back a scowl, "Don't let her appearance fool you. She's an assassin."
"But also a child. She barely looks older than Robin," Superman pointed out, ignoring Batman's glare at the mention of his charge, "Regardless of the risk, she needs to be taken care of. We will question her once she is awake and not in pain."
Batman sighed, "Very well, setting a course for watchtower. Have either of you contacted Arrow?"
"I spoke with him on the way back, he'll meet us at the watchtower," replied Superman as he took a seat behind the gothamite.
"Great."
Batman briefly reflected on the conversation he had with Clark and Diana earlier, when they had first taken the girl into custody. Though Batman would never show it or admit it, he was a bit concerned for this girl simply because she was so young. Talking with her in the interrogation room, really being able to look at her was a bit unsettling.
He had yet to encounter a criminal of this level under the age of twenty one. Judging by her appearance and structure, he pieced together that she had barely reached puberty. Possibly thirteen if he had to get guess when it came to her age.
"How did it go," questioned Green Arrow, pulling Batman from his thoughts.
The Green Arrow had been briefed on the situation considering this event happened within twenty miles of his city and therefore his jurisdiction as far as the League was concerned. He had been briefed by Superman shortly after they arrived.
"We'll see in time," stated Batman, "Right now the choice is hers. I've offered her deal, she just has to take it."
"Yeah, give information and we give protection, think she'll go for it," Arrow asked, one brow raised.
Batman released a barely audible sigh, "She may be a criminal, but she is still young. She has nowhere to go, but she also has nothing to lose. It could go either way for her."
"What if she decides to stay silent," questioned Arrow, "J'onn couldn't get into her head, she wouldn't tell Clark anything, though no one ever tells him anything in interrogations. You offered her a deal she might not take, what will you do."
"people can be trained to stand against J'onn and there is technology that can interfere with telepathic waves," replied Batman, "If worse comes to worse, Diana will use her lasso. I highly doubt the girl could withstand that."
Arrow nodded, "It's doubtful. How much time are you giving her?"
"Why so curious," fired Batman.
Arrow usually questioned everything, but Batman was not in the mood for it today.
Arrow shrugged, "This happened near my city, my jurisdiction. Clark wouldn't tell me all of it and I know you definitely won't and I haven't run into Diana yet. I want to see how much information I can get now."
Arrow paused, hesitant to bring up his next idea to the Batman who was likely to tell him no. He thought perhaps he could go to speak to the girl, maybe he would be able to get through to her in a way the others couldn't.
The green dressed hero thought of his charge, well would be charge Roy. A wild child, rebel without a cause, but a good heart and decent guy, even if he could be a downright pain in the neck.
Arrow had briefly seen the girl earlier, once in the infirmary and once during her interrogation with Superman. From what he could tell she would be tough to crack, but she wasn't hostile. She may have come across curt or acted cross, even a bit irritated, but she wasn't aggressive.
"What if I-" Arrow started, but was interrupted.
"No," said Batman sharply.
Arrow frowned, "You don't even know what I was going to say."
Batman stopped in his tracks and faced the blond hero, "You were going to ask if you could go speak to her, my answer is no. The only reason you are involved in this incident is because it took place near your city. Otherwise you aren't involved and do not need to speak with her."
Green Arrow folded his arms over his chest, "Really? Why is that? What could be so wrong with talking to her instead of hounding her with questions?"
"You really want me to answer that," Batman remarked dryly.
Arrow rolled his eyes in response, "I'm just saying. Maybe if we just talk to her, she might be more forth coming about stuff."
Batman ordered, "You are not speaking wth her until the matter is settled. I will see her in an hour and if she takes my offer, you'll be there to hear what she has to say. If not, then perhaps during her interrogation with Diana you can see what she has to say."
Batman walked away without another word, leaving Arrow to glower in his place. He released a sigh, he knew what he was going to next instead of spending the next half hour twiddling his thumbs, he would speak to the kid. Arrow walked back in the direction of the kid assassin, he knew Batman would give him grief for this later, but he didn't care. He wanted to speak with this girl to see what he could do.
Little did Green Arrow know that Batman was watching in shadows with a knowing smirk on his face. It had been Diana's idea to send Arrow to speak with the girl because of his experience with getting young silent 'prisoners' to speak. However Batman didn't think that sending Arrow in would work out the way they thought, especially if he had time to prepare.
When the green vigilante had spoken with his charge the first time, it had been because Dinah told him not to. If Oliver had time to prepare something, it wouldn't have the desired effect.
The girl had spent the next twenty minutes thinking over the Batman's offer. It made her sick to her stomach to consider it, to consider betraying the Shadows in order to save herself. There was no loyalty to each other in the shadows, only loyalty to the organization and the cause.
The girl knew she wasn't loyal to the cause, never had been and never would be regardless of how many times her father pushed her. It didn't matter, she couldn't change her idea. It was just better to pretend she agreed, to the play the part and avoid getting hurt for thinking otherwise.
She leaned back in the silver chair, her eyes looked towards the door again before returning her gaze to the table. Batman had given her a fair deal. If she took it, she would be done with the Shadows, she would be free from her father. Yet the idea frightened her and made her angry.
He was her father, she wanted him to be proud of her, she wanted her father, her mother and sister to be proud of her. If she could get away from the League and give the card to the Shadows, she would become an official member and earn her place in the organization she was raised in. However she had to wonder, was it worth it to stay in the League of Shadows?
This wasn't the first time she had had these doubts, but it was the first time she let herself linger in them. She figured that was something the Batman had wanted her to do, to doubt her loyalty and seriously consider his offer. Her first instinct was to scoff at the idea, yet the longer she sat alone in the cell the more her doubts continued to eat at her.
The door opened again, the girl suspected that it was the Batman, but the footsteps were too heavy to be him. She barely lifted her head to see the forest green attire of the modern day Robin Hood. A man they called Green Arrow or just Arrow, a once vigilante now hero who resides in Star City. The girl briefly recalled that she had been near Star City with Cheshire the previous night.
"Hey," Arrow said taking a seat in the chair in front of her, "names Green Arrow or Arrow if you prefer. What's your name?"
The girl just stared at him with unblinking grey eyes, trying to understand what kind of game this hero would play. Judging from his demeanor, she guessed that he was going to try and be a friend to her in the way Superman had attempted. Though he tried a more adult to lost child approach which she hadn't appreciated in the least.
"Not telling. Why are you here," asked the girl, "Superman tried to be my friend already, the Martian wanted to get in my head, but couldn't and Batman already gave me my choices. I already told him that I won't betray the Shadows."
Arrow nodded in understanding, "Superman did mention you were part of the League of Shadows. Those guys have been causing more and more trouble as the years go by. However I didn't expect that they would recruit children, you can't be older than 13."
The girl didn't take the bait, her eyes narrowed, "If you're trying to get me to reveal stuff through conversation, it won't work."
"Worth a shot," said Arrow with a shrug of his shoulders, "Can't blame a guy for trying."
'Alice' stared at him, her expression the epiphany of annoyance and displeasure. Though she admitted in her mind that this hero seemed the most human, which was true considering he was all human. Batman was all human as well, but even she could tell that the aura of darkness he presented was inside of him as well.
Seeing her change in expression, Arrow started to speak again, "Look, I understand wanting to be loyal and all that's great, however what do you think that will do for you? Will the Shadows come for you? Do they even know you're alive? What will keeping their secrets accomplish? Cause the way I see it, you don't owe them any favors."
"I owe the Shadows everything, you know nothing," replied 'Alice' sharply, though she didn't believe that.
Those were the words of her father after all.
Arrow raised an eyebrow, "Really? You think you owe those guys anything? How? What have they ever done for you that is worth you, I mean really worth your help?"
Nothing, that was the answer she had and the answer he knew. The girl didn't answer him and Arrow could practically see the gears turning in her mind as she tried to come up with a good response. Deep down she knew there wasn't one. He knew it as well.
"Why do you want to keep their secrets," Arrow asked her, pressing her just a bit more.
"Why do you care," hissed the girl.
Arrow raised his arms in surrender, "I'm just trying to understand your point of view is all. If I were in your shoes and I knew no one was coming for me, I would say 'screw them' and get some revenge by spilling their secrets."
"They'd kill me," said the girl, her expression showed a flicker of panic.
"Unless they think you're already dead," Arrow pointed out to her, "You could cut all ties with the Shadows. You could start over, be whoever you wanted to be. You could be the master of your own fate."
"How do you know I'm not the master of my own fate," the girl asked, leaning forward slightly.
Arrow offered her a small smile, "I've seen the same look in many eyes. Of wanting to take control, but being forced to do something they don't to. It's an almost frenzied look."
"You get all that from my eyes," questioned the girl.
"No, just my amazing deductive skills," replied Arrow with a grin.
This caused the girl to show a very small smile, but she said nothing in return.
"I think you could get away from them shadow girl," said Arrow gently, "We could protect you from them, we could give you a whole new identity and a chance to go wherever you want."
In spite of herself, Alice considered his words. She wanted to escape the shadows, she had wanted to escape them ever since her first kill. She knew it was impossible though and soon forgot about the desire.
Yet here the opportunity presented itself where she could've free, but she was too afraid to take it. Too afraid her father would find her, then he would end her to re-education and she would never be the same.
Arrow could tell by the furrow of her brow and softness of her eyes that she was considering his words carefully. He saw a lot of his charge in this girl, even after only being with her for a couple of minutes. There was hope for her, there was something more for her. He would help her in whatever way he could, he just hoped it would be enough.
After sitting in silence for a few minutes and deciding it would be better to leave now before the Batman dragged him out of here, he said, "Well I'll see you later shadow girl."
The green dresses hero stood up from his chair and walked to the door.
The door hissed open when the girl spoke, stopping Arrow in his tracks, "It's Artemis."
Arrow turned around to look at her, "What did you say?"
"My name," said the girl, "You asked. It's Artemis, Artemis Crock...If I tell you everything I know, will you promise to keep me away from the shadows? That I could get away from, and not in prison cell."
"You have my word," said Arrow with a grin.
Artemis didn't return his expression, instead she stared at the table. She couldn't turn back now, she had to see this through if she was ever going to get away from it all.
She took a breath, "Thank you. Guess I can start with I know a majority of League's secret identities, including yours Oliver Queen."
Arrows eyes widened behind his mask in stunned horror, "How do-"
"It's a long story. I believe your colleagues would like to know," interrupted Artemis, her back straightening with newfound confidence, "Tell Mr Wayne that I'm accepting his offer."