Chapter 6 - Infiltrator
"What," I stressed the words slowly, "is that suppose to be?"
My mouth hung open as I stared at the small piece of blue material in Megan's hand. The devilish grin on her face was a sight to see.
"Oh come on, Amara. It's a bikini! You can't expect me to believe that you will wear your normal clothes to go swimming at the beach today?"
She tossed the offensive material at me and I caught it before it hit the ground. "No, but I was thinking that shorts and tee-shirt would be good enough." My voice dropped in a low hiss. "Besides, I've never owned a bikini." The word felt foreign in my mouth.
"That is why it's the perfect time to try one out! I'll be wearing one too, so you won't be alone." Her clothes shrank off her body, morphing into a yellow bikini similar to mine. The suit was flattering on her, and it showed off her delicate curves and figure. I stared down at my own body curiously. There was never a need to wear anything else besides my normal outfit at Cadmus, and the few normal clothes I had when I was living with my father never included a bathing suit. We didn't have time to play happy family and go to the waterpark. He was always too busy being a….
I didn't realize that I had clenched my fists until Megan commented, "If you don't want to wear it, Amara, I'm sure we can find something else."
"No," I was quick to protest. "Thank you. It will be fun spending time at the beach. And I do appreciate the bathing suit. I'll just change now and meet you out near the entrance in five minutes."
She beamed. "Perfect! I'll go check on the boys and meet you out there."
When we had all gathered in the cave, I was already feeling better. Being with the team in this manner was strangely comforting. For once, we weren't having to dash off somewhere or do a dangerous mission. We were just a bunch of kids doing a normal summertime activity. Well, almost all of us were.
"Let's have a moment of silence for our fallen friend," Robin's voice was strangely pinched.
"Poor Wally," Megan whined. Yup, the flirt was back at his first day of school while the rest of us were headed to the beach. Poor guy couldn't talk his way out of that one.
When we finally made it to the sand, the sun was shining bright and a cool dip in the water sounded absolutely refreshing. Turning to set my towel down, I blushed madly at the sight in front of me: Kaldur had taken his shirt off and it definitely was a sight for sore eyes. Wow, the way his black tattoos wrapped around his broad shoulders…If I hadn't been paying attention, I might have accidentally let a little drool fall down my lip.
"Wanna head in?" He gave me that knowing smile that made me feel light on my toes.
"I'll race you there."
The next few hours were absolutely amazing. We swam in the water until my limbs were sore and then played beach volleyball and had cool drinks and snacks. My favorite part was when we buried Superboy under a mountain of sand. For a typically tense and intimidating person, he was completely at peace as Megan and I packed the wet sand over his body.
When the sun lowered behind the mountain, we headed in. It wasn't even twenty minutes later that Batman beeped for a mission conference and required our presence in the cave.
Walking up to the familiar faces of the league, I noted Batman, Red Tornado, and Green Arrow standing with the team. The only unfamiliar face of the group was a girl, about my age, with a low blond ponytail and a tight green outfit standing with her back to me. A large bow was strapped to her back. As if she sensed me, she turned around and I stopped in my track.
I knew her. Even though her face was covered with a mask, I would recognize those eyes anywhere. The same untrusting stare, the tug at the edge of her lips. We had met when I was still with my father. He had been working on a mission with Sportsmaster and I had stayed at Sportsmaster's home, with his two daughters, one of which was standing only twenty feet in front of me.
"Who's she?" I was shocked out of my stare by Robin's statement behind me. "I haven't seen her before."
I couldn't stop the thoughts that were twirling in my mind. Surely Batman and the League knew who she was. Maybe she was like me, not one to be associated with her father.
Before Green Arrow could introduce the girl, Wally made his untimely entrance, decked in swim shorts with various beach gear gathered in his arms. Of course, he tripped and sent the gear flying out in front of him. The large inflatable beach ball hit Batman on the leg, and I normally would have thought that to be hilarious, but my fear about the new girl at hand kept my laughter contained.
"Ah, dang…" Wally moaned when he looked up to see the unhappy faces of the League.
"Nice entrance," the new girl spoke for the first time, her voice was attractive in a deeper tone.
"Um, who are you?" Wally stood up and turned to Robin. "Who is she?" His question was a little rude with the demeaning tone, but I could tell the team shared his question.
"This," Batman started, "is Artemis, the newest member to your team."
"She is my new protege," Green Arrow offered. "I've been working with her for the past several weeks."
"What happened to your old protege?" Wally sneered. I was surprised by the threatened tone in his voice until I saw the saw expression in Robin and Aqualad. This must have to do with Green Arrow's other sidekick who was supposed to join the team.
The AI computer's voice rang out. "Recognized, Speedy."
The newest member to join the party, Speedy walked in with a scowl on his face and tension across his shoulders. I don't know what bit his finger, but I suddenly had the urge to stay as far away as possible.
Speedy spared a glance at his former mentor and the new protege. "Glad to see I was so easily replaceable."
"Speedy," Green Arrow said, throwing his hands up, "You are not replaceable. This is my niece, Artemis."
When a loud scoff came, I didn't need to look to know it came from Robin.
"Even so," Aqualad said, facing his friend. "You are still welcome at any time, Speedy. There is plenty of room for archers on our team."
"And if there wasn't," Wally said, "You know who we'd pick."
A frown came to my face. Surely the boys realized that they were hurting Artemis's feelings? Even if she was hiding her identity, a wave of protectiveness hit me when I looked at the new archer. She was the only person who could sympathize with what it meant to have a corrupt father, and I wasn't about to let the team's stubbornness drive her back towards the wrong side.
"I don't go by Speedy anymore, you can call me Red Arrow." Red Arrow crossed his arms over his chest. "But to get to business, I need the team's help. The League of Shadows recently kidnapped Dr. Roquette, a brilliant scientist with the potential to create weapons of mass destruction."
"So we're going with you to save her!" Wally guessed, maybe a little too early.
"Already done," the subtle confidence shimmered off Red Arrow before his shoulders dropped. "But not before she completed the Fog, a nanotech weapon capable of disintegrating anything in its path. However, its real purpose is collecting data from computer systems, software, any piece of technology it can get its hand on."
"That's not good," Aqualad said.
"No, so I need your help protecting the doctor while she creates a virus that can shut the system down."
Artemis stalked forward. "If that weapon gets to the wrong facility, it could be used to extort, manipulate, and power break–something the League of Shadows is known for."
"You sure have a lot of knowledge on the group, don't you?" Wally said with accusation. The sly grin Artemis replied with did nothing to help the situation.
"Roquette is currently at the school's computer lab working on the virus."
"Roy," Green Arrow says softly, "Allow me to help. Maybe you and I can–" He is stopped by Batman's hand. "–or not. But still, Roy, working with the team will give you the best chance of protecting the doctor."
"I don't think so." Red Arrow turned and took his leave, pausing only to inform the computer of his new name, before he disappeared in the teleporter.
"Well, that was unusual." Megan's voice stated beside me. I could only nod in reply, my eyes trained instead on Artemis. I wanted to know, wanted to ask her if she recognized me too. Before I could step forward, she walked back towards Green Arrow and Batman.
I sighed in defeat. "Come on," I grabbed Megan's arm. "Let's go prep for the mission."
Later that night, we all gathered around the room where Dr. Sterling was hunched over typing fervently at the cheap keyboard on the desk. The second Megan activated the telepathy link between everyone, chaos struck out as insults were hurled back and forth, mainly between Wally and Artemis.
I clutched my head at the never-ending bickering. Surely they were more mature than this? I matched the doctor's impatience as she wholeheartedly implored the two to quit fighting. We would never be able to watch for an assassin with this tension. At this rate, we'd end up killing each other before the enemies.
"I'll take perimeter," Artemis finally decided, stalking out of the room. Her dark green outfit worked well enough for stealth mode, but everyone else was in their separate stealth costume.
"I better go with her," Megan stated and flew out of the room.
"Will you be able to track the Fog from here?" Aqualad asked as he approached the doctor.
"I can, but I'll need to go online," the doctor's voice was pinched. "Which basically sends up a flare that alerts every assassin within a hundred square miles to come kill me." Her whine was a little unreasonable, but I couldn't blame her. After being kidnapped and forced to produce a weapon of mass destruction, only to escape and now be hunted by the enemy, I would be stressed as well.
Aqualad placed a hand on her shoulder. "And we will protect you."
His words must have been the encouragement she needed because she hit the spacebar and a progress bar suddenly flashed on the screen. I don't blame her, Aqualad could be very persuasive. Ugh, there I go thinking about him again. I was just grateful I hadn't projected any embarrassing statement to the group.
"I'll go watch the south perimeter," I said on the telepathic link before flying out the door. My best chance of catching an assassin was having a solid connection with the earth. And that wasn't possibly cooped up in the computer lab oogling over the boy I definitely still had feelings for.
The quietness of the forest was unsettling. Lowering myself to the ground, I placed a firm hand on the dirt and closed my eyes. Immediately, my senses expanded around me and I was able to perceive every living thing within a hundred yards around me.
More voices swept through my head as Artemis made an inappropriate comment about Superboy and Megan angrily protested. Roquette interrupted to reveal the location of the Fog.
"Megan, can you reconfigure your bio-ship so that Robin and Superboy can go after it?"
"No problem?"
The bio-ship shifted out of camouflage mode from the sky and the two figures of Robin and Superboy quickly disappeared within the vessel before it took off into the night sky.
I returned my concentration to the perimeter, hoping to pick up on something when Megan and Artemis's former argument reemerged, throwing me off my train of focus.
"Will you cut it out?" My temper got the best of me as I snapped at the other girls. "I can't focus at all with the two of you shouting in my head. Now please, can we be quiet?"
I guess my comment worked, as the conversation faltered and it was once again silent. I went back to my meditation but something had changed. I had been focusing my energy on the perimeter around the school, but I was suddenly picking up a lot of vibrations from inside the school.
"Something's wrong!" I mentally yelled just as Aqualad's voice interrupted my statement.
"The assassin is in the room with the doctor!" Kaldur's voice was strained.
Wasting no time, I launched off the ground and raced back inside. I arrived just in time to see a masked woman throw several darts in Kaldur's arm. They didn't appear to hinder the Atlantan, who was standing over the doctor, but I didn't want the assassin to have any other chance to hurt him.
Throwing out my arms, a burst of wind knocked the assassin off her feet. She agilely backflipped to another stance before throwing several darts in my direction. A slab of the ground rose and blocked the darts, but by the time I lowered the mass, a cloud of smoke filled the room and the assassin had vanished.
"You let her get away!" Dr. Roquette said, not bothering to keep quiet.
Wally leaped to accuse Artemis. "You let her get by! You were supposed to be the one patrolling the perimeter."
"That's not fair," I said, rising to her defense. "Miss Martian and I were both out there as well."
"I can't be mad at you two," Wally stated as if that justified his accusation.
"Wally…" I met his eyes and he turned away pouting.
Megan placed a hand on Artemis. "Don't worry, we have your back." The archer smiled. However, the smile died when she turned towards me, catching my eyes before she looked away.
The situation spiraled further when Robin and Superboy called to inform that they were too late for Star Labs, and the fog had already completely decimated the facility.
"What now?" I asked.
"Now," Kaldur said with a thin lip, "We move the doctor."
It was well into the night by the time we secured the doctor in a new secluded location, well secured the doctor and the decoy doctor that Megan was claiming to be.
Aqualad loudly announced for Miss Martian to remain camouflaged and do a perimeter sweep while he stayed with the doctor. I was waiting in the hallway with Wally. The usual chatter that came from his mouth was silenced by the mood. I couldn't blame him. When dealing with a threat like this…it took all my strength not to let the pressure of the mission get to me, not to run and hide from the evil of the world. I thought I had grown out of my childish phase after living with my father, but in moments where I had to consider saving a life or…dying, reality reminded me that I was still an adolescent.
"You okay?" Wally broke the silence.
My eyes were dangerously close to tearing up, but I bit my lip and shook my head. "No, I just–"
A loud commotion interrupted me, and we rushed into the run to see the assassin had brought company. Two large men: one covered in red and the other had a large claw for a hand. As Wally rushed towards the one in red, I turned to the clawed man as Aqualad faced the masked woman.
The man flung his claw at me, its large grip open wide. I dodged, my eyes glowing as I threw bursts of harsh air at the man, throwing him back against the wall. I flew forward, choosing to fight closer to avoid another claw attack. I aimed a punch at the left shoulder, adrenaline coursing through my system as I focused only on the man in front of me. His blond hair was cut close to his head, and the smug grin on his face was slowly fading when he realized I was more than a small threat.
In a lucky shot, he caught my leg and pulled me to the ground harshly. I was momentarily dazed but before his fist came down on me, I was able to launch an airstrike in his face and withered out of his grasp. In my peripherals, I saw the masked woman lunge at the doctor and knew we were seconds away from being discovered.
Sure enough, as Megan revealed herself, the masked woman managed to sneak out of the building. I gave my full focus back to the clawed man after I saw Artemis pursue her. The battle was quick, and Wally, Megan, and I tied the two assassins up.
"Aqualad?" I asked through the telepathy link. "Is the doctor okay?"
I waited with bated breath, the seconds ticking like lead until the familiar voice replied. "Yes. The doctor is okay and the virus has been released."
My shoulders sagged as I left out a loud sigh of relief. I accepted the hug from Wally and finally allowed myself to breathe.
Though we had been out all night, when we finally arrived back at the cave, I wasn't tired. As Kaldur, Robin, and Wally headed back to their homes, and Megan and Superboy went to their rooms, I stayed out on the couches next to the kitchen and stared blankly at the wall. Today, seeing Artemis, facing assassins…I couldn't get the thoughts out of my mind. I hadn't realized how much I wanted to throw my past away until I came so close to being discovered. Batman had promised he would keep my father a secret, but Artemis?
It was almost morning when I heard the AI Computer's voice announcing Artemis's arrival.
She froze when she saw me, sitting like a statue on the couch.
"Essence?" Her voice displayed her surprise. "What are you still doing up?"
"I know." My voice cracked slightly. She didn't move, but her shoulders stiffened as I continued. "I know about your father, Artemis. And I think…I think you know about mine."
She didn't speak, just stared at me with squinted eyes.
"I won't tell anyone." My words were meant to be reassuring, but I winced at the weakness that came from my mouth. "I mean, your secret is safe with me. I just wanted you to know that if case you were worrying."
Artemis clenched her fists tightly. For having spent the entire night showing off her toughness to Wally and the team, she looked just as fragile as me. For the first time since I saw her, she looked like the teenager who had too much pressure placed on her head and was tired of having to prove everything to everyone.
"Sportsmaster works with my father." Her eyes flashed as I mentioned her father. "They both work for the Light. And we were both pawns to them. Isn't that correct?"
After several more moments, Artemis finally opened her mouth. "Yes." I didn't know to which question she was answering, but she soon clarified. "I did recognize you earlier, and I know who your father is."
Her dark eyes met mine with both pain and pity.
"You're Amara Savage. Vandal Savage is your father."
The father is finally revealed:) Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll post a new one tomorrow.