Artemis woke up screaming for the first time in weeks. The nightmare had been new, bloodier. Falling back against her pillows, she checked the clock. It was just past nine and outside her window, the California sun was already blinding. She pulled herself out of bed and hurried into the bathroom for a quick shower. The steam and hot water calmed her tense nerves and racing mind. Afterward, she wrapped a towel around her body tightly in a feeble attempt to keep the heat in. As she scurried back to her room she realized just how quiet the house was. On a normal Saturday, Ollie would have been up and banging around the kitchen as he tried to make breakfast.
She shut her door behind her, temporarily forgetting Oliver as she set out in search of something to wear. After pulling on her favorite pair of jeans and a t-shirt, she slipped out of her room and began her trek down to the kitchen. "Ollie," she called, hoping to get an idea of where he might be. The only reply she got was the silence of the manor. Her mind automatically jumped to the stranger she had met in Gotham. Her head began to spin and breathing became hard. Calm down, Crock, she thought as she steadied herself against the wall. Oliver could have been gone for any number of reasons besides that. Surely if he'd been attacked he could have taken care of himself or… or her mother's murderer seemed to like making her suffer so he would have left the body somewhere out in the open so she could stumble over. The last thought only had her running through the rooms just hoping she wouldn't find Ollie the way she had found her mom.
Finally, she managed to calm herself down. Ollie had been called into the office on Saturdays before. There was no reason today should be different. She had just slowed her breathing to a reasonable rate when the shrill ring of the phone had her jumping a foot off the ground. With a shaky hand, she picked it up, expecting it to be Ollie calling to tell her where he was. Instead, she was greeted with a voice that spoke almost too fast to understand.
"Took you long enough, Oliver. I only called a few hundred times before you finally picked up. I mean, I can understand you ignoring me the first few times but after that, I mean come on, you should have thought something was up," the caller rambled quickly.
"Ollie's not here," Artemis managed to squeeze in when he paused for a breath.
"Oh, hey, Artemis. It's Barry. Is Wally over at your house? His mother is worried out of her mind. Apparently, she didn't hear him come home last night and he wasn't in his bed when she came to wake him up this morning. He left food out on the table, which Wally would never do unless, of course, something important came up. I need to check here before I start to panic too."
"Wally's not here," she whispered. Her blood ran ice cold.
"Oh, Ok," Barry replied, a little disappointed. "Then I'll just check to see if he's at the cave."
Before the Flash could hang up she spoke up. "Why did you call me before the cave?" There was a short pause at the other end as if he was considering how to reply.
"Because you're one of the few things important enough for him to leave without telling me."
They said quick goodbyes and hung up. As soon as the call was disconnected Artemis began to panic again. Oliver was gone and now so was Wally. She thought back to the night before hoping to pick on some clue. That's when it hit her. He hadn't just been after those two. He was after Roy too.
Finding his number on the emergency numbers list, she called his apartment as quickly as she could. Each ring made it harder and harder for her to stay positive. She was ready to throw the phone against the wall when she finally heard his voice. "Hello?"
"Roy," she began. Relief spread through her mind, at least he was safe. "Oliver and Wally are gone and I think they were taken by the guy that murdered my mom." He didn't answer right away. The lengthy silence unnerved her. Just as she thought she was going to scream he replied.
"Do you know where they are?"
She shook her head before realizing he couldn't see her. "No." Her thoughts pulled her mind in every direction. She tried to focus on her conversation but the worst possible scenarios raced through her head.
He sighed. "Stay there. I'll be over in a minute."
Before she could say another word there was a crashing sound on the other end. "Roy?" she called into the phone. "Roy?" There was no reply at first until an all too familiar laugh bounced out of the earpiece. Her stomach tightened and her heart rate sped up.
"I've got all three," growled the stranger from the night before. "Your move. I'll be waiting. You'll be able to find me by following these instructions exactly." He rattled off a detailed list of directions that led her to a nearby abandoned shipyard. "We can talk there and you can see your three favorites. You're smart enough to know that if you bring anyone with you, all of them will die."
The call ended before she could say anything. At least she knew where Oliver and Wally were. Artemis hadn't expected him to go after all three at once. This left her with two options, call Dinah for help and risk getting them killed right away or go alone and risk getting herself killed as well as his three victims. I'd rather die with them than live without any of them. The thought hit her with such force and surprise that she had to grab the counter. When did she start caring about so many people?
Running through the manor, she collected her spare bow and packed as many arrows as she could fit in her quiver. As she stopped in her room to change into her costume her skin tingled with the fear of what would be waiting for her at the shipyard. When her preparations were finally done she slipped out the door and vanished into the woods.
Every once in a while, she stopped to catch her breath and check her surroundings, making sure she was on the right track and that no one was following her. She hit the edge of the trees all too soon. Her destination, at least, was close but the rest of the trip would be out in the open and it would be harder to use the element of surprise in broad daylight. She would have enjoyed staying out of the city to avoid the attention but the shipyard was pretty far into the city limits. She hit the city's edge; the old warehouse district. It was known for being a hotbed of criminal activity. Some buildings were still in use by various companies, others were abandoned, and every once in a while there was one in use by a drug lord or gang. The shipyard was just past these buildings, a little farther.
As her destination came into view she froze. It was huge and completely vacant. The whole set up favored her opponent. Huge rickety cranes towered above a maze of unfilled shipping containers. A crumbling office building rose out of the labyrinth on the left and a storage building ascended out of the containers on the right. Plenty of space to hide an ambush. She could hear water splashing against the docks, covering any sounds of approach.
She slid a trick arrow from her quiver and fit it in its place. Quietly and slowly, she stepped into the maze. She would have loved to go over the containers but the gaps were often too big and she didn't want to present an easy target. She kept an eye on the storage building, knowing in her gut that she should be heading there. The smallest sounds had her whipping around with the arrow pulled back. Her pace was too slow for her liking but she couldn't speed up and maintain stealth. The building crawled closer to her as each second ticked by. The tension grew as she inched nearer. Finally, she was standing in front of the entrance of the storage building.
The entrance was wide open and waiting for her. Sunlight filtered through the windows and the doorway creating dim lighting. There were more shipping containers pushed to the sides. As her eyes adjusted to the poor lighting they roamed across the room, coming to a stop on a figure tied to a chair.
Ignoring the voice telling her it was a trap, she sprinted to the figure, hope building up inside her. Once she was halfway to the chair, though, three industrial lights snapped on. One on the first figure and the other two on two figures she hadn't noticed before. Oliver, Wally, and Roy were all arranged at equal distances from her. They were each tied to a chair and groggily waking from unconsciousness. All three were on platforms raised slightly above the ground. Artemis stood in the middle of a painted circle.
"Artemis," a voice called over the speakers, the same voice that had haunted her dream last night, the same voice that admitted to killing her mother. It sent shivers down her spine. "I'm so glad you could join us. I was just thinking of what I'd do if you didn't show up… or if you didn't show up alone. I'd probably just shoot all three of them."
The young archer ground her teeth together. "Do you just enjoy the sound of your own voice?" she called.
"Last night got me thinking, Artemis." He said her name like it was the most important group of letters in the world. "You see, I was going to have you pick which one you could live without. That isn't very fair is it?" He didn't wait for a reply before moving on. "So, I thought 'What would be fair to my dear Artemis?' and do you know what I came up with? No? Well, I thought, instead of making you choose who you could live without, I'll make you choose who you can't live without. There are three targets here, Artemis, and only one will be walking out alive with you. That lucky fella will even get to be the last person I kill. Does that sound fair?"
Wally was fully awake by the end of his speech. His eyes were wide as they darted around his surroundings. For some reason, he wasn't gagged. "Artemis?" he whispered.
"Do you want to play a game, little arrow? Trust me, it's a fun game, but it does favor the house. Now, I'm in this exciting little control booth." A flash of light not too far away drew her attention to a small booth with tinted windows. "From this booth, I can see everything in this room. Understand? There are three hidden guns aimed at the hearts of your precious friends. I want you to use your head and figure out a way to free one of them without leaving that circle. The one you free will live, the other two will die. If you leave the circle they will all die." He paused to laugh. "None of them are gagged so they'll each get a chance to plead for their life. Anyone alive at the end will live but, spoiler alert, there will only be three survivors: you, me, and whoever you choose. On your mark, get set… go."
All three captives were awake to hear the voice explain the game and they were all looking at her with the same look. Wally was the first to speak. "Find a way to free the other two. I'll be fine."
She shook her head and took a few steps towards the speedster. "Wally…" Her words were cut off by a loud buzzer.
"You're getting awfully close to the edge of that circle, little arrow," the voice warned. She glanced down to find her feet just a few inches from the line that marked the circle. Artemis stepped back to the middle before looking back at Wally.
"Don't worry, beautiful," he replied with a wink. "Use that big brain of yours to get the other two out alive." She tried to argue but he shook his head and silenced her. Unless she could think of something brilliant, she was just going to have to trust him. She turned to the other two with a grim expression. Saving both of them was going to be a daunting task.
She yanked the trick arrow that was fitted into her bow out and debated which arrow to replace it with. "Artemis save Roy," Ollie mumbled, earning extensive protests from his adoptive son. "Roy, I promised Brave Bow I'd protect you and that's what I'm doing. Artemis, use an arrow to cut the ropes around Roy." She didn't reply and instead continued to try and think of a way to save them both. "Artemis," Green Arrow called again.
"Typical heroes," the voice called out in disgust. "So self-sacrificing and pious."
"Shut up," she yelled in frustration. "All of you, shut up. I need to think." Her hand fell onto an explosive arrow. She glanced around, trying to find the guns. When she found no trace, she sighed. Let's hope this works, she half thought, half prayed. "KF, are you ready?" The ginger smiled and nodded. "Ok," she whispered before raising her voice. "Ollie, Roy, keep your heads down." They all trusted her. Her stomach fell but she couldn't hesitate "On the count of three, one…" She notched one arrow, gripped another in her bow hand and took aim. "Two…" Roy and Ollie ducked their heads. "Three."
Behind her, Wally set to work on his own plan while she focused on her part. The first arrow hit its mark, landing just in front of Roy's feet. She spun around, nocking and drawing the other arrow before letting it fly. The second arrow landed in front of Ollie. Both arrows detonated blowing the chairs out of their position. She barely managed a glance at Wally vibrating out of his bonds just before the gunshots began. They all hit the ground.
Artemis let herself have a moment of satisfaction over how smoothly everything had gone. But the moment quickly faded when she spotted the blood and heard someone groan in pain.