"Gotham's my city. Robin and I have it under control," Batman growled, fixing his worst Bat-Glare on the young girl in front of him. The girl, the same girl who'd stared down the worst villains in the world, shrunk back from him for a moment before boldly staring right back at him. "People were killed tonight because of you."

"Bruce," Oliver snapped as he stepped into the room. The Dark Knight's anger turned on Ollie at the sound of his secret identity. "I can deal with this. She's not some criminal, she's my daughter. The scary Bat tactic won't fly."

By then, it was too late, the damage had been done. Artemis lost sight of the world around as tears began to flood her eyes. People had died. Because of her? People had died because someone was out to ruin her life. Innocent people had died. For what?

She tuned out the argument between the two men as a small bird caught her eye. He waved her over to him. She threw a quick glance towards her mentor to check if he'd notice before scurrying over to Robin. He pulled her out of the room and down one of the hallways. The cave was empty, M'gann, Zatanna, and Conner had already gone to bed, Kaldur was in Atlantis, and Wally was in Central City.

"Don't mind, Bats," the Boy Wonder began as they wandered the halls. "He's in interrogator mode. I know it's scary at first but you get used to it. He used to use it on me all the time."

"How many people in Wayne Tower were killed?" she asked quietly.

Robin burst out laughing so loud he had to cover his mouth to keep from waking the cave's occupants. Artemis could have punched him. "Sorry," he whispered when he had calmed down. "It's just that Bats will find someone's weakness and use it against them. Wayne Tower was practically empty tonight and the explosion only took out the top floors. All you did was scare the crap out of a guy named Lucius Fox. Bats is just mad 'cause he's Bats. It's his thing." They slipped into silence for a while. They walked through passages Artemis didn't even know existed. Eventually, Robin stopped her. "What happened tonight, Artemis? I saw you chasing someone."

"Not now, Robin," Artemis sighed. "I'm too tired." She began walking again, hoping he'd drop the subject. But he didn't. The bird boy stepped in front of her and crossed his arms.

"I saw someone jump from the tower. What happened?" By the looks of it, some of Batman's mannerisms were beginning to rub off on his protégé.

She steadied herself with a deep breath before finally answering his question. "I went back to my apartment," she said as she wondered how she became this trusting. "I guess I just wanted to see it. But, while I was there I found something that shouldn't have been there and when I looked up there was this figure in the doorway. I chased him all the way across Gotham and caught up to him on the tower. He made some threats, the usual, and jumped off. That's when the building blew up."

She tried to step around him but, even though she was much taller than him, he stood his ground. "What did you find in your apartment?"

The fresh memory of the note and photos sent a painful jolt up her spine. Each picture had been taken with the clarity that could only be achieved when very close. "I found a warning, from the man who murdered my mother." Robin's head cocked to the side, urging her to continue. "He's going after everyone I know, Robin. You, the team, Ollie, Roy, anyone I care about."

"There's something else bothering you," he said simply.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she admitted what had been eating her since she got to the cave. "And… I let him go. I could have killed him but I let him go. I should have killed him. I let him go."

The Boy Wonder ran a hand through his dark hair. This was a situation he had gone through before. He knew the feeling. "Would that have helped?" His question caught her off guard. "If you killed him, would it have changed anything?"

"He killed my mom, Robin. How am I supposed to let that go?"

"You don't. You never will. But, trust me; revenge won't do anything, for your mother or for you. What do you do after you kill him?" Artemis didn't answer so he kept going. "It'll never stop, Artemis. If you kill him, you won't stop. You won't gain anything from killing him."

"How do you know?" she snapped.

"I know because I've been there. I went after my parents' killer once. I wanted him dead but when Batman found me… I actually tried to kill him but I just couldn't." Artemis turned around and began walking the way they'd come. She knew he was right. But she still didn't want to face the logic of what he was saying. Not tonight at least. "Artemis," he called after her. "Please don't do anything stupid."

She stopped. "Oliver, Roy, or Wally," she murmured without turning around. "One of them will be his next target."

"I'll see if I can find out anything in Gotham."

Artemis continued walking. "Thanks."

x

Wally had just gotten home from patrol when the phone rang. He pushed his goggles onto his forehead as he answered it. "Wally?" Artemis's voice asked from the other end. He searched through the refrigerator in search of some late night snack. Both of his parents were already asleep.

"The one and only, beautiful," he replied. "What's up?" Grabbing some of the leftovers from tonight's dinner, he popped it in the microwave and sat down at the table.

"Wally, I went to Gotham tonight." He could hear her voice shake.

"What's wrong?" He asked suddenly alert. Sitting up straighter he didn't notice the microwave's timer going off. She didn't answer. "Artemis, is everything alright? Do I need to come over?" He could hear her taking a few deep breaths. "What's wrong?" he repeated.

"Someone's trying to kill you. You or Ollie or Roy. I already told the other two." She paused before going on. "I don't know who he is exactly or what he really looks like but this is the same guy who killed my mother." He tried to reply but she kept explaining. "I don't know which one of you is going to be his next target but he sounded like he'd attack soon-"

"You talked to him? Are you ok?" The microwave went off again forcing Wally to get up and grab the food but he didn't eat any of it.

"I'm fine. I'm worried about you. You have to be careful. Please, Wally," she begged. Her voice sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Wally clenched his fists. He'd only seen Artemis cry a few times and all of which were related to her mother's death. The fact that this man was still causing her pain angered him to a whole new level. Whoever this guy is, he's going down. At this point, Wally was ready to do anything to make that sicko pay. Even if it was the last thing he did.

"Don't worry, beautiful," he replied with a smirk. "If he comes after me, I'm going to make him wish he'd never even seen you."

"You don't understand. I get the feeling he's more powerful than he showed me. Please be careful." Her last plea stopped his cocky remark in his throat. He would only cause her more worry and trouble if he went looking for the perp.

"I will be." He sighed softly.

"Thank you," she answered. "Stay safe. I'll see you at the cave tomorrow."

"See you then, Artemis."

"Bye." Once the call disconnected he dropped the phone on the table. He buried his head in his hands trying to block out this new fatigue. As he peeled off his goggles and mask he rubbed his temples. The leftovers were forgotten by now and the microwave door still hung open. The ticking of the kitchen clock echoed through the silence and pounded into the speedster's brain.

With another sigh, he leaned back in the chair. Patrol had been tiring enough now he was struck with how much pain Artemis was still in. Someone out there wanted to drag her to a new low and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. He'd never felt so helpless, so useless, before in his life. It was a horrible feeling.

If things kept going the way they were, he was sure he'd see Artemis cry more than he'd seen her smile. The memory of their walk through the Queen estate came back to him. "You fell for her hard, Wally," he muttered to himself. His voice was only met by the ticks of the clock. He closed his eyes.

It wasn't until the cold metal pressed against his throat that he reopened them. A low chuckled drowned out the small sounds of the night. Wally mentally kicked himself for letting this guy sneak up on him. "Don't worry," the stranger growled. "This is going to hurt her more than it's going to hurt you."