Tempest: Chapter Thirty-Six: Reconciliation of Partners


Artemis thought she'd been in awkward situations before, but she couldn't have been more wrong. Her hand dropped from where it had been attempting to hold her robe together, keeping her mother from seeing her uniform, but the sides parted now to reveal her midriff-bearing sleeveless green top with an arrow tip over her chest and pants a similar green with black kneepads and combat boots.

She crossed her arms, trying not to look as though she hadn't just snuck in through the window, but it was difficult to pull off.

"What're you doing here?" she asked with a bit of vexation, which was probably a bit braver than she felt and elicited a sharp look from her mother, which was largely ignored.

Green Arrow looked to Batman, but Gotham's Dark Knight remained silent, leaving the archer to clear his throat, bringing his hands up to lock his knuckles while his elbows rested on his knees. "Artemis, we know what you've been up to."

Anger flared deep inside her and her dark eyes blazed. "And you came here to stop me?!" she demanded. "Well, you can just forget—"

"No," Batman said sharply and Artemis huffed, still steamed as she crossed her arms, shifting her eyes to the side. "The Justice League has formed a covert team of young heroes…as I'm sure you already know."

She could feel the weight of his stare without even seeing his eyes or even looking at him. I'm so busted.

"We'd like you to join the team."

Artemis scoffed. "If you expect an apology for saving Kid Flash's—" Then what he said finally caught up with what he'd said. "Wait, what?"

"We think you'd make a great addition to the team," Green Arrow said, giving her a slight grin as he stood in order to rest a hand on her shoulder, "if it's all right with your mother."

Artemis' eyes latched onto her mother's and she could see with how she sagged just a little bit into the wheelchair, undoubtedly seeing the chances of her daughter not getting involved in crime-fighting as rather low, given her late night excursions (Artemis had to be kidding herself if she thought Paula wasn't going to notice that).

"You have my permission," Paula said and Artemis couldn't help but be startled; it wasn't the answer she'd been expecting.

"Are you going to tell the rest of them about my family?" Artemis asked before she could stop herself and Paula shifted her eyes away bitterly, before she corrected herself. "Well, not Storm Chaser obviously."

Both heroes looked to one another.

"Your private life is your business," Batman said shortly.

"You wouldn't be the first hero with a secret identity," Green Arrow added, vaguely amused. "We'll introduce you as my new protégé and niece. Hey, we're both blond."

Artemis positively beamed. "Then I'm in, I'm so in!"

"What did you mean about Storm Chaser?" Batman probed and Artemis' smile fell into an expression of confusion.

"She didn't tell you?"

Batman remained impassive. "Storm Chaser likes her secrets." Green Arrow released a sudden cough that only made an appearance in order to cover up a laugh.

"She ran into me a few months back, we did a patrol together…she said she was friends with my sister," Artemis said slowly and Paula's eyes widened.

"She knows Jade?" she gasped and the two men were similarly surprised.

"That's what she said," Artemis shrugged and Green Arrow's eyebrows furrowed.

"Well," he conceded, "she has claimed to have a girlfriend, but I'm pretty sure she only said that to get under Kid Flash's skin."

Artemis gave him a dubious stare. Storm Chaser couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen, and that was much too young to compare to Jade's nineteen years. More likely she said it just to throw off the others, that seemed like something she would do, given that she liked to spend some time stealing from people.

"I will be having words with her about that," Batman said, but Artemis got the feeling that that wouldn't blow over well.

But Green Arrow turned his attention back to Artemis when she asked: "If I'm going to be your new protégé, then what happened to your last one?"

Green Arrow grimaced. "Speedy's…struck out on his own, I guess. I haven't heard from his since early July, neither has Storm Chaser; she's very sore about it, they were partners."

"Oh," Artemis said intelligently.

"And, unfortunately, I'm going to be out of town for the next few days, but I'm sure the ladies wouldn't mind you joining them on patrol," Green Arrow added, giving her a smile. "Storm Chaser has been complaining about the behind-the-scenes work she's been doing lately, but she secretly loves it."

"Won't it be hard with me being in a different city?" Artemis inquired, resting a hand on a cocked hip.

"Not at all," Green Arrow laughed, "you aren't the first protégé to commute to a different city for patrol. Storm Chaser's from Central City. We'll have to get you a passcode for the local Zeta-tube."

Artemis only understood half of what he said when both men moved towards the window to make a quick exit. "Um, are you sure they won't mind me coming on patrol?" she asked quickly before they could make the leap, her voice faltering slightly.

"They won't mind," Green Arrow assured her. "In fact, it might improve Storm Chaser's mood; she always works best with an archer."

And then they both disappeared out of the window, leaving Artemis with excitement bubbling in her stomach.


A flower shop? Really?

Artemis had gotten the Zeta-tube code in her phone earlier that day, but the experience from moving from one city to the next instantaneously wasn't something she was going to used to all of a sudden.

She tightened her grip on her umbrella, the rain splashing around her as she made her way down the street to the shop Green Arrow had named in his text.

Ask for Amara Allen.

Artemis frowned, but she still grabbed the door to the shop, whipping it open and stepping inside, shaking off her umbrella on the mat.

"Welcome to Bouquet Boutique," came a cheery voice and Artemis looked around with interest, taking in the rows upon rows of varying types of flowers, some of which she'd never seen before.

The woman who'd spoken was very pretty with red hair falling past her shoulders and green eyes the color of leaves. She was the one who had spoken, leaning against the counter while someone else had their back to Artemis, sitting on the counter beside the woman, a head of dark hair bent slightly, looking at something that Artemis couldn't see.

"Can I help you with something?" the woman asked her.

"Um, I'm looking for someone named Amara Allen?" Artemis ventured and the head jerked up in surprise while the woman pointed to her and the girl spun around on the counter in surprise.

Her eyes were identical to the woman's, and they were the very shape and size that Artemis remembered seeing behind Storm Chaser's mask.

She grinned. "Goddess! In Central City, who would've thought?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Are you going to keep calling me that?" she asked dryly.

"Oh, yeah," Amara grinned, hopping off the counter to make her way around to Artemis. And Artemis couldn't really be surprised with her fashion sense with how Storm Chaser wore mostly black to begin with. "I'm guessing Ollie told you where to find me?"

Artemis gave her an odd look, which made Amara laugh, though she didn't explain it, but they were in front of someone else who probably didn't know how Amara spent her time.

"Well, I'm heading out Ella," Amara called back to the woman who hummed as she went back to chopping the long stalks of some roses to a more manageable size.

"Don't worry," Ella called after her, "I'll figure something out for your birthday."

Amara gave an audible groan that made the woman laugh before gesturing towards Artemis to follow her out into the rain. Artemis had never really minded rain, but compared to Amara, she might as well have hated it, because it seemed to her that Amara loved the rain; she hadn't even bothered to bring an umbrella, soaking her hair in seconds.

Artemis forfeited some of the space under her umbrella, just so the younger girl wouldn't catch pneumonia from being soaked through.

"Was that your mom?" she asked curiously and Amara gave her a strange look.

"No, of course not," Amara said, jerking her thumb back towards the shop as they walked, "that's Ella, she just works with me. My mom, Iris, is a reporter at GBS. Why?"

"You two just look kind of similar around the eyes," Artemis shrugged and Amara's brow furrowed in befuddlement, clearly not thinking so.

"How did you know GA was taking me on as his protégé?" she asked her instead.

"I'm very good at gathering information," Amara said smugly, "also, Batman interrogated me."

Artemis shook her head in exasperation. "I'm sure that was fun."

"I spend half my time on BlackNet, trust me, after that, interrogations from Batman are practically nothing," Amara said dryly, and Artemis found herself staring at the almost-thirteen year old in astonishment.

BlackNet was the closest anyone could possibly get to being a criminal underground while being online. Her father was a fixture in it. It was supposedly impossible to hack into, with extremely high level encryptions that were changed and added to at infrequent intervals. And in order to get onto the site in the first place, you had to be invited.

"BlackNet?" Artemis repeated dubiously.

"I manage a good portion of Limbo," Amara agreed, "I'm the one people call Oracle."

Who would have thought that hacking specialist was just a kid? Artemis had heard her father complain about Oracle more than a few times, mostly because she was very selective about the kind of jobs she took on, none of which were the type that he was involved in, because her hacking skills could've been very helpful on some of his jobs.

"How do you have any time to yourself?" Artemis demanded, making Amara laugh. "I mean, you're Storm Chaser, Masquerade, Oracle, and you have a job?"

"The job's only part time," she assured Artemis. "And Masquerade doesn't do a lot of thievery these days, besides, I do more as Oracle than I do as Storm Chaser, but Oracle has her own people to gather information…and I like to be kept busy."

"I'm sure," Artemis drawled and Amara's eyes glittered as she grinned.

"I've got odd hours, but they're set hours, and I'm home schooled, so that makes my life easier," Amara added, scratching her cheek, "I think Mom and Dad don't think I can function very well if I'm bored…though usually I call up Robin or Kid Flash if I'm bored."

"Not Speedy?" Artemis noticed, and Amara's face abruptly soured.

"We're not talking," she said shortly, crossing her arms. "Personally I think a sharp punch to the face could do him good."

And that actually made Artemis laugh. "You're not bad, Storm Chaser," she decided.

"Just wait until we train together," Amara grinned widely in an almost devilish manner, "I'll kick your ass."

"I'd like to see you try," Artemis returned with much the same expression. She was older and had height and experience over Amara, at the very least.

"Yeah," Amara said, her grin not falling a bit, "you'll fit right in."


Amara pulled her earpiece from where it had been wrapped around her ear, dropping it onto the table, shutting off the several computer set-up that Batman had had connected in the med-lab when Amara had first started as Oracle.

Today was the day that Artemis was joining the Team, and for the most part it had gone pretty well when she had arrived; Amara being familiar with Artemis had probably helped. But they were still short a member, since Wally had started school that day (while everyone else –barring Artemis who hadn't arrived until later– had enjoyed a day on the beach, something Wally had been rather sour about when he'd learned their plans).

"Wall-man, huh?" Amara could hear Artemis' laugh. "I love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?"

"Uh, who's this?" Wally questioned as Amara fixed her mask over her eyes as she entered the monitor womb to take note of the heroes gathered around, stifling her giggles when she saw Wally, dressed for the beach.

"Artemis, your new teammate."

"Kid Flash," Wally returned, "never heard of you."

Amara arched an eyebrow, even though the action couldn't be seen from behind her mask. "Because you honestly pay attention to Star City news," she said dryly and her cousin shot her a glower.

Green Arrow cleared his throat. "She's my new protégé."

"What happened to your old one?" Wally asked, only to be interrupted by the sound of the Zeta-tube firing and the disembodied voice echoing around them: "Recognize: Speedy –B06."

Amara went white under her mask and her mentor shot her a concerned look, seeing how her hands tightened into fists that sparked just slightly with electricity.

The light from the Zeta-tube faded, and standing there was Roy. He'd ditched the Speedy uniform in favor of a red and black uniform, grey straps at his shoulders to hold his quiver and at his waist to hold his holsters.

"Well, for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore," he said shortly, "Call me Red Arrow."

Amara scoffed audibly. How original.

"Roy!" Oliver stepped forward, his surprise evident, but a smile still on his lips. "You look—"

"Replaceable," Roy sneered and Amara couldn't find herself to be surprised at the real anger in his voice. Roy had always had a somewhat rocky relationship with his adoptive father, and nothing was going to change that.

"It's not like that," Oliver countered swiftly, "you told me you were going solo."

"So why waste time finding a sub?" Roy demanded. "Can she even use that bow?"

Amara had to hand it to Artemis for striding forward and looking Roy in the eyes –or, more accurately, where his eyes were hidden behind his domino mask– without backing down. "Yes, she can."

"Who are you?" Wally asked, flummoxed, spreading his arms.

"I'm his niece."

"She's my niece."

Oliver and Artemis spoke at the same time, their voices intermingling, and Dick chuckled where he was standing at M'gann's side. "Another niece?"

"But she's not your replacement," Kaldur added, giving Roy an easy smile. "We have always wanted you on the Team. And we have no quota on archers."

"And if we did, you know who we'd pick," Wally interjected.

"Whatever, Baywatch." Artemis rolled her eyes. "I'm here to stay."

"Besides," Amara said frostily, "I know who I'd want on my team." The it's not you was rather obvious and Amara hoped it hurt. "Besides, I can vouch for her…unless you've got a problem with my opinions."

"Oooh," Wally murmured to Dick, "now that's a burn."

Roy opened his mouth to say something as Dinah rested a hand on Amara's shoulder, only for it to be shrugged off, but then Kaldur spoke once more.

"You came to us for a reason," he said.

"Yeah, a reason named Dr. Serling Roquette."

Now, that got Amara's attention.

Dick used the holographic computer in his gauntlet to bring up the screen in the monitor womb. "Nanorobotics genius, claytronics and genetics expert at Royal University in Star City –vanished two weeks ago," he said, bringing up the images on the screen.

Her research on genetics at least in the top ten in the country.

"Abducted two weeks ago," Roy corrected, "by the League of Shadows."

"Whoa!" Dick remarked with interest. "You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?"

"He's already done that," Amara pointed out. There was no way that Roy would be able to pass up something like that, and there was no way that he would've come to them for help on something he could easily handle on his own.

Roy coughed at Amara's steadfast ability to acknowledge his presence, but also ignore him entirely. "I already rescued her," he agreed with Amara's assessment, moving towards the holographic projection to add his own information. "Only one problem. The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon." The image displayed the schematics of a canister of sorts and something that looked vaguely like a beetle. "Doc calls it the Fog, comprised of millions of microscopic robots, nanotech infiltrators capable of disintegrating anything in their path –concrete, steel, flesh, bone. But its true purpose isn't mere destruction, its theft."

Amara crossed her arms, furrowing her brow.

"The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system, and deliver the stolen intel to the Shadows, providing them with access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting-edge science and tech."

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power-broking," Artemis interjected, knowing far too much about the Shadows through her father. "Yeah, that sounds like the Shadows." She grimaced slightly.

"Like you know anything about the shadows," Wally scoffed and she spared him a smirk. "Who are you?!"

Roy continued as though the interruption hadn't been made. "Roquette's working on a virus to render the fog inert."

"But if the Shadows know she can do that—" Dick cut in.

"They'll target her," Roy agreed. "Right now, she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab." The location appeared on the holographic screen.

"You left her alone?" Oliver couldn't appear to help the accusatory tone in his voice, and Roy bristled.

"She's safe enough for now," he bit back. "Besides, I didn't come back here for you, Ollie, I came here for her."

His finger was jabbed in Amara's direction and several eyes looked to her.

"Well, isn't that rich," she sneered. "After you left me high and dry a month ago. No 'sorry, Amy, I've got to get out of town for awhile because the JL is pissing me off again'—" Wally had to shove his entire fist in his mouth it silence his sniggers and Superboy arched an eyebrow, and that was when Amara seamlessly switched to Russian, because there was no one in the room apart from Roy that spoke the language. "I had to find out on the fucking camera, Roy! I came back to an empty safe house and you were gone! I freaked out for a good ten minutes before I thought to check my cameras!"

"And that's my fault?" Roy fired back in rapid Russian, almost too fast for Amara to follow. "That's rich, coming from the runaway!"

They were in front of each other, fully aware they were berating each other in front of their friends and mentors.

Amara reeled back as if slapped. "One of those times was because I was looking for your sorry ass, if you can remember that far back, and the second time was because I was attacked in my home!"

"All right, you two!" Dinah stepped between them, pushing them away from each other with a scowl. "This conversation should be done in private, don't you think?"

Amara glowered and stalked away in a huff.

"Where're you going?" Roy demanded.

"To the library!" Amara raged before she disappeared.

"Dude," Dick gaped at Roy, "she could totally kill you."

Roy ignored that and followed after his ex-partner, leaving the others to stare after the pair.

"Do you think Amy will be all right?" M'gann asked in concern. "She seems a bit…explosive."

Wally chewed his lip before looking to Dick. "Did you understand any of that?"

Dick snorted. "Amy literally asked me what languages I didn't speak when she first started; I don't know any Russian, that's Amy and Roy's thing."

Dinah cleared her throat. "Well, you guys have a mission to get to."

"What about Amy?" Superboy asked shortly.

"She'll be working on a separate mission with Roy, evidently," Dinah remarked dryly as the sidekicks' mentors made their way back to the Zeta-tube, now that things were a bit settled. "It'll give Artemis time to see you in action and for you to see the same."

Artemis smirked.

Wally wasn't the only one looking doubtful.

"Artemis has been running around Star City with Amy and me for the past few days, she's far more used to her fighting style than any of you," Dinah pointed out. "Wally, you're going to need to change."

Wally groaned loudly.


Roy found that Amara's eyes were far more accusatory without her mask present, and it made him wince.

When he found her in the Cave's library, she already had her laptop open and typing away with enough force that Roy knew to be her 'typing-when-pissed' typing.

"I'm sorry," he said, sitting opposite Amara and she didn't even bother looking up from the laptop, but her eyes did narrow, so he knew she was listening. "And I mean that."

Her typing continued.

"Amara Pamela Allen." She looked up, only to scowl deeper at him, but it did afford him the moment to shut her laptop and Amara leaned back, crossing her arms.

"You know, partners are supposed to trust each other," Amara said, most of her anger spent from the previous explosion, though there was still enough to simmer deep inside her.

"I know," he said, moving around the table so he was kneeling at her side, forcing her to keep her eyes on him. "I should've told you…I just wasn't really thinking at the time." He sighed. "I was caught up in my own anger."

Amara ground her teeth together, like Roy knew she did when she was trying to keep her emotions in check, and then she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, an action that had them both stuck in a position that was either straining or uncomfortable, but Roy still wound his arms around her back.

"I missed you, asshole," Amara muttered into his shoulder, "and I'm still pissed with you."

"That's fair," Roy conceded.

"If you missed my birthday, I'd've killed you," Amara added thickly.

Roy smiled. "You hate your birthday."

"Yeah, I do," Amara agreed as they parted and swiped at her eyes in a way that Roy pretended not to see. "All right, what do you need me for?"

"The League is trying to get some kind of information, I'm not really sure yet, but there've been suspicious destructions at three universities in the past day," Roy said and Amara frowned.

"Universities probably are test runs for whatever they really want, I can't imagine the Shadows being very interested in what colleges are doing," she pointed out.

"But it's still a good idea to destroy whatever information they've gotten, don't you agree?" he countered.

Amara wrinkled her nose. "Probably, but I'd have to be connected to some kind of network that the Shadows had accessed."

"There's a hideout that the League of Shadows kept the doc at, Infinity Island," Roy said and Amara opened her laptop again, typing speedily, "but that's in the Caribbean Sea."

Amara zoomed into the location before giving him a grin. "Oh, no problem."

"Really?" Roy said doubtfully.

"I once flew to Fiji, Roy," Amara said dryly, "and that's way farther. I could get us there by cloud in a few hours, give or take."

"Wonderful," Roy said, and he hoped she heard how unenthused he was about traveling by cloud.