Hello and welcome to chapter 4. Thank you all for your wonderful feedback, it's really encouraging me to continue updating weekly. I don't remember if I mentioned this last chapter, but I'm expecting to have 10 chapters to this story, so we're at 4/10, almost halfway. I don't own any fraction of the DC universe, never have. However, I hope you'll follow, favorite review and enjoy all the same.

Chapter 4

Reflex

ˈrēˌfleks/

noun

1.

an action that is performed as a response to a stimulus and without conscious thought.

"Hey Arty."

Artemis jumped, releasing in her arrow on reflex, missing the target completely. She whipped around, glaring at Talon. Judging from smug smile, he knew exactly what he was doing by interrupting her. He casually took a seat in the chair pushed against the wall of the archery range. The little troll was planning to watch her shoot, and probably mess her up again.

If he did, she was going to shoot him next.

"Hello Talon," Artemis replied tartly, stringing another arrow on her bow. It took all of her will power to not aim at Talon. He'd be able to dodge it anyway. During the few missions they had worked together, Talon had come to be able to read her every move. Something Artemis couldn't say the same of.

To her surprise, Talon sat quietly watching her as she shot off a few volleys of arrows. When she ran out, he wordlessly went to pick them up, plucking them off the damaged target. He held up the arrows, "Mind if I take a few shots?"

Artemis shrugged, holding out her bow to Talon. The arrows were just blunts after all, it wasn't like he could do any real damage with them. She took a seat where Talon had sitting moments ago, watching as he adjusted his stance in front of the target. The bow was too large for his small frame, but he adjusted quickly.

She watched him take a couple shots, the first few arrows going askew as it became apparent Talon was a bit rusty with they bow. At that point he took a moment to fix his grasp and his aim improved to the point where Artemis was impressed.

"How's Jade doing?" Talon asked as he released another arrow.

Artemis snorted at the mention of her sister, leaning back in her chair and relaxing. "She's doing good now, still working on the usual stuff. I think she has a thing going on with Red Arrow," she responded.

Talon chuckled, "Red Arrow? That's a surprise. I never expected her to have a crush on a hero. Does Red Arrow know?"

"I'm pretty sure he also likes her."

"Does Green Arrow know? I doubt he approves."

"He doesn't know, but I think Canary does. Although, I think she's hoping for a grandkid at this point." This time, she laughed along with Talon. It was almost like she had never left her life of villainy and they were joking on the Gotham rooftop without Owlman or Sportsmaster's knowledge.

A moment of silence wrapped around them once more as their laughter slowly withered. Artemis no longer saw the merit of being a villain, having adjusted to her heroic lifestyle, undoing the misdeeds she was responsible for. Talon had been a villain even longer than she, yet he demonstrated the qualities of a hero. How he had been inducted as Owlman's apprentice, she had no clue.

"Why dd you stop Luthor from killing us?"

This time it was Artemis who caused Talon to miss the target. He winced as it landed with a thunk against the opposite wall. "Can we not talk about it?" he questioned with a deep sigh.

"No. I need to know. Talon you've been a villain for longer than most of the other villains. And yet now you had a change a heart? I don't believe that," Artemis persisted. "Why do you work with Owlman? You've never killed anyone before or done anything that wasn't to help preserve the peace Owlman created in Gotham, so why?"

Talon smiled mirthlessly, "You've always been able to read me better than most Arty. But I have my own reasons for working with Owlman. I saved you and your friends to teach Luthor a lesson. He's been trying to get in with Owlman for way too long and he'd starting to get annoying. I thought he needed a warning, wish I'd gotten the chance to beat him up before he skipped town. I just didn't expect Savage to be there, otherwise I'd never have tried to help you guys out."

"I don't believe you," Artemis deadpanned. And she didn't, she knew Talon was lying to her, at least for the most part. He'd wanted to save them, not because Luthor was an annoyance to the Gotham villains but almost as it were an act of reconciliation for all that he'd done.

Artemis was all too familiar with acts of reconciling.

"I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm just giving you my answer."

Talon set the bow down as he left the room, ending their conversation before it could go any further. Perhaps because he knew he couldn't fool Artemis.

The archer knew what she had to do. She couldn't allow Talon to go back to a life where he was unsure of the morality of his actions. She'd make Talon join the team for his own good.

Dick huffed as he made it back to his room in Mount Justice, collapsing onto his bed. He should have known better than to approach Artemis. She'd always been more in the gray area between heroes and villains than most others. She understood why Talon had rescued the team. Even if he couldn't admit it to her. The act had been one Owlman would never have done even if the Justice League had been threatened. In his single refusal to permit the deaths of the teen heroes, he'd single-handed given Savage and the rest of the Light the ammunition they needed to make him join them.

Rather than it having been a spontaneous, emotion fueled reaction, he'd done it in hopes of it making up for all the bad he'd done. Dick had always wondered what his parents would think of the path he had chosen for his life, and while they might disprove of most of his actions, his act of reconciliation had hopefully made up for their disappointment.

His eyes watered as tears threatened to fall at the thought of his deceased parents. He was doing this for them and himself, so he could prevent anything like that from happening to the billions of other families in the world.

After all this time, he'd acted like a villain with the qualities of a hero. While it made him more dangerous in the eyes of the Justice League as he knew how they would act and therefore be able to respond, it's also what civilians recognized as him protecting the people who were unable to protect themselves in the dangers of Gotham.

The villains saw him as a dedicated mastermind. The civilians saw him as their savior. And the heroes saw him as the evil in the world. Who was right? And who was wrong? Dick would never be able to tell.

But one thing was for certain, he still saw himself as the little boy who had watched his parents plummet to their deaths. Who heard his mother call out for him as she realized her fate. Who saw his father's eyes widen in fear and anger and sorrow. Who visited his comatose, paralyzed uncle weekly to tell him about the outside world.

Whether he saw these things as a hero, villain or both, he knew the importance of his and Bruce's mission. And he couldn't be swayed away from it. Not by the Light, the League of the Team.

And that was, of course, when the alarm began to blare.

Kaldur was momentarily stunned when Klarion appeared in Mount Justice. Which was understandable seeing as how the only villains to ever infiltrate the mountain were the two reds. The team had been prepared for an attack once villains realized Mount Justice was their base of operation, but they hadn't been expecting a member of the Light to appear himself.

Acting quickly, Kaldur raced towards the control panel of the cave, activating lock down and the alarm. Hopefully, the team would use this as a warning to make their escape while he held Klarion off—not that he was sure how he was going to keep the Lord of Chaos entertained quite yet, but he'd figure it out. It was his duty to protect the team as their leader.

He should have expected that they would converge in the central area instead of fleeing. Wally arrived first, skirting into the room and coming to a stop beside Kaldur. Superboy—Connor, he mentally corrected, remembering the teenager asking to be called such—charged as soon as he caught sight of the Witch Boy who dodged away from the blow with a smug smile as he continued to pet his cat. Artemis' volley of areas hit next, almost striking Klarion had he not dodged Superboy's charge, the archer hissed in frustration, likely having expected them to hit their mark as they exploded leaving the cave's floor scorched.

"Kid Flash, who's watching-?"

"Klarion?"

M'gann had arrived with Talon in tow. The villain was looking at the Lord of Chaos with surprise and relief. It should have been obvious they would know each other what with their like fields of expertise. The Team should have been keeping Talon away from their intruder, not bringing him straight to him—it wasn't M'gann's fault per say as the team had gone behind his back to always help their leader fight instead of fleeing in like matters.

"Get him out of here!" Kaldur ordered the stunned Martian. It came too late as Klarion appeared beside Talon, knocking M'gann away.

"Come here often?" Talon jested, beaming to his partner in crime.

"Only as often as you," Klarion mirrored his expression, "I see Owlman hasn't come to pick you up from your playdate with these sidekicks. Should I give you a ride?"

A silent agreement was made between the two villains as Kaldur realized he and the team would be in trouble. Out of seemingly nowhere, Talon pulled out a belt, identical to the one the League had confiscated from him. Without a moment's delay, Talon was gone, as if he had turned invisible.

"Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Artemis catch Talon. Superboy and I will hold off Klarion," Kaldur ordered. He grabbed his water bearers, summoning the water from the cave's outlet towards the Witch Boy. As expected he brushed it away, however he fell victim to Connor's charge.

A cackle echoed against the cave walls that sent shivers down Aqualad's spine. He was only vaguely aware of the ongoing fight behind him, choosing to focus on Klarion instead of worrying over his teammates. The sooner he and Connor were able to force Klarion to retreat, the sooner they could help their friends recapture Talon.

"Play time's about over, don't you Justice kiddies think?" Klarion sneered, transforming his cat into it's larger form.

Not for the first time, Kaldur deeply wished he had the Helmet of Faith with him. While even Fate had some trouble fighting Klarion it would give them a chance of defeating him. With that in mind, Kaldur charged forth only to find himself near the roof of the cave, plummeting towards the hard flooring below.

After that, all was dark.

Dick couldn't say he was impressed with the strength of the Young Justice team. Klarion had been able to defeat their leader and while merely toying with Connor as his rage steadily grew causing him to grow sloppy in his movements. Even if Kaldur had attempted to sacrifice himself so his team could get away, it wouldn't have done much. Before he could grow as a hero he would need to understand the risk to his actions. Connor

Kid Flash was down for the count, Dick had him with a dose of Scarecrow's gas almost immediately. While the Central City hero was fast, he was easy to predict. Miss Martian had attempted a mental attack, but Dick had felt her surprise at his mental blockade before he poured every inch of sorrow and pain into their link.

Only Artemis was left standing now, having left the close-range combat to her teammates. They were but playing a game of cat and mouse. Talon only moments away from winning as Artemis tired, she couldn't keep dodging his precise blows forever.

"Talon, you're better than this," Artemis pleaded, "Please. We could help you get away from Owlman, the League could protect you. You wouldn't have to live a life you feel like you have to redeem yourself for."

"Sorry Arty, but I wasn't lying to you before. I am a villain no matter what you think."

Wally awoke with a groan. He looked around, his teammates barely waking up themselves. Klarion and Talon were no where in sight. He'd thought, in between all their laughing and talking, Talon had somewhat taken down the barrier he put up around himself. Wally reckoned that, just maybe, he had the chance of convincing Talon away from being a villain, helping him away from Owlman and convincing him to join the team.

He hadn't expected Talon to turn against them so fast once he saw Klarion.

The speedster cursed, he hadn't expected it but he should have known better. Even with his occasional friendship with the Rouges, they'd still commit the same villainous acts. There was no helping it. But Wally thought he'd seen something different in Talon, if only for a moment. It had been the same resolve Wally had in becoming a hero Talon had when saving them from Luthor that night in Gotham.

And Owlman... well Wally knew for a fact that there was much more to the man that the Justice League had told them of. He cared about Talon, despite having been framed as a heartless criminal. But he knew for a fact that no matter what Owlman had done, he didn't want Talon in the hands of the League.

"We have to get him back," Connor stated.

Wally could feel the piercing stares of his other teammates on him, knowing full well he had spent the most time with Talon. But his own voice was lost to him. He did not know what they wanted to hear, nor of their experiences with the villain. Would they be willing to give themselves up in a mission to rescue someone who had done so much bad? Wally knew he would, because he understood it was not the lifestyle Talon had deserved. It was an unfair hand dealt to one who's motivation kept him going.

Slowly, Wally shook his head. "We can't go against the members of the Light by ourselves. We need help." He paused, looking up at his teammates, "We need to go to Gotham."