The blood. It brought her back to the apartment. The horrible day where she found her mother's blood all over. Now, there was more blood, different blood. Ollie's blood. It was soaking through his shirt, staining the white fabric. The edge of the red spot crawled farther and farther from the wound. The crimson oozed further from its owner. Each second was sapping more and more life from him. There was so much blood. Wally was helping Roy out of his bonds as she tried to stop the bleeding. Ollie staring at the ceiling in confusion. Someone was saying her name and forcing her out of her stupor.

"Artemis," Roy called again as he knelt down beside her. "Get him." He jerked his head towards the booth, its door was open and its occupant's figure was receding. "Wally and I can take care of him." She nodded vacantly until it hit her. This was her chance to get her mother's killer. She was going to stop her fear once and for all.

She took off after the man at top speed. Her knuckles were white from her grip on her bow. He led her through the building, around containers, and into the sunlight. She blinked a few times to allow her eyes to adjust as she continued to pursue him. The killer made a beeline for the water, heading towards a motorboat that sat bobbing in the waves. As she ran she pulled an arrow from her quiver and aimed it at the boat as he stepped on board. He shoved his key in the ignition but before he could start up the boat she called out.

"Another move and I blow you sky high," she warned drawing the bow. The tip of the arrow blinked to show the charge was ready. Her aim shifted to the fuel tank.

The man held his hands up and turned around. A plain black mask covered his head and his clothes were all black. "Would you really kill me?" he asked with mock innocence. She could barely see the white of his eyes but he seemed so close.

She felt a smirk touch her lips. "Do you want to find out?" His normal coolness was thrown for a moment as he saw that she would actually do it if he gave her the chance. He began to slowly clap, picking up the pace until he was fully applauding her.

"Congratulations, Artemis. You saved them all. Not your mother, of course, but you stopped her killer. All by yourself." She eyed him curiously as he laughed shortly. "You really couldn't live without any of them, could you? Yet you're living just fine without your mother." She narrowed her eyes and fought back tears. There was no way she'd let him get to her now, not when she was so close. "I guess that means, after all this, you're still just like your father." She bit down on her lip, refusing to let her emotions get to her. He took a step backward and bumped into the steering wheel. The finger's that held on to the arrow twitched. "Do it. Take the final step. Kill me and become just like him."

With a soft sigh, she let the bowstring slack. He gave her a small smirk; he had won. Using all the speed she had, she replaced the explosive arrow with a foam arrow and in one motion she sent that flying at his feet. It exploded in front of him and quickly surrounded his legs in a quick-drying goo. The foam hardened and locked him in place as he pulled out a gun at took aim. "You little brat," he muttered, firing at her. She dove behind one of the containers. From her position, she heard the boat start up. She swung around the container in time to see his boat take off from the dock. Its driver was hacking away at the foam with his gun and trying to drive at the same time. She pulled out a tracker arrow and aimed it. Before she could let it fly, a mass of light and fire enveloped the boat accompanied by a deafening sound.

Smoke rose in a single column towards the morning sun, staining the cloudless blue sky with dirty charcoal. The flames seemed to sit atop the water as they stretched upward in search of something else to consume. The smell of burning fuel and charred flesh irritated her nose. It was so potent that she could almost taste the smells. She watched the burning remains as the sun warmed her shaking hands. A sort of relief and satisfaction pulsed through her veins as she turned from the wreckage and headed back. She may not have caused this man's death but he was gone and she'd never have to worry about him again.

She ran back to the storage building with Ollie in mind. As Roy had promised, he and Wally had taken care of the injured man. They'd ripped strips off Ollie's shirt and created bandages from the fabric. Roy was applying enough pressure to stem the blood flow but not enough to cause Ollie pain. Both redheads looked up as she approached.

"What happened to him?" Roy asked.

"He's…" She paused to debate how to continue, "been taken care of." Wally cocked an eyebrow, silently demanding more information. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain what happened. It definitely didn't look good. Her eyes caught on his as he waited for her answer. "I'll tell you later. How's Ollie doing?" She asked trying to change the subject.

"He's unconscious but he's doing better than before," Wally replied. "But we're going to have to get him real medical attention soon. We have to get him out of here." They all looked around but only saw the booth and containers. "I'm too low on fuel to carry him." The speedster ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.

Roy shifted his hands carefully but a moan still escaped Ollie's lips. "I was taken here by boat," he muttered, moving into a more comfortable position. "If we can find that, we can get closer to the city." Artemis bit her lip. The boat he was thinking of was destroyed and she hadn't seen any others. They didn't have time to search for one.

"That boat isn't usable anymore," she whispered.

"I was brought here by car," Wally said. "Maybe it's still nearby."

"That's a start. Wally, search for the car," Roy commanded. The other boy nodded and took off, speeding out of the building. Roy turned his attention to Artemis. "Shoot off a grappling arrow and cut the cord. We can use it to tie on the bandage." She nodded before shooting the arrow into a nearby container. Using a real arrow, she began to saw at the cord. Unfortunately, the cords were designed to be hard to cut, making his orders almost impossible to follow. Roy realized this when she gave him a helpless look. "Here, switch places with me." He showed her how much pressure to apply and placed her hands in the right place then went to saw off the cord.

Artemis looked down at Ollie's limp form. Blood was starting to seep through the fabric. Tears pricked the young blonde's eyes as she thought of life without her mentor. "Please, don't die. You can't die. Please, don't leave your favorite niece," she whispered, closing her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks. It was weird, she'd cried multiple times in one year. That hadn't happened since Jade left. She hadn't cared about anyone this much since Jade left, except her mother. After all these years, she'd finally found the fatherly figure she had always needed and now, she might lose him.

Her eyes snapped open when someone wiped away her tears. Ollie looked up at her with a weak smile. "I promise," he whispered, his voice rasping, before becoming limp once more. His hand fell to the ground and his eyes closed halfway.

"Artemis," Roy said, startling her. He held the cord in his hands. "Help me tie his bandages." He lifted Ollie up a little so she could get the cord underneath him. Another moan slipped out of the older man as she tied a knot around the fabric. "Let's try and lift him." They each slipped his arms around their shoulders and lifted him up. Their progress was hampered since she was much shorter than both of them but they managed. Just taking a few steps was tricky and time-consuming.

Wally raced back into the room. "I found the car." They followed him as he half led them to their only means of escape and half helped move Ollie. The silence grew as they struggled out of the building. "So," the speedster began. "What really happened to that psycho killer that kidnapped us?" Roy sighed but she knew he wanted to know as well. Artemis ignored his question hoping they'd drop it. The guy was definitely not an ideal topic for the current situation and she really didn't want to go into her meeting with him at the moment.

"We heard the explosion," Roy explained, a little too comforting than necessary. Not that it bothered her too much. He was new at this whole accepting brother thing and she wasn't used to him respecting and tolerating her like this.

"I saw the smoke," Wally added.

A part of her knew that they wouldn't let it go so easily and that she'd feel better if she told someone. It wasn't even her fault. With a sigh, she told them how she had chased the killer to his boat and threatened to kill him. She censored their conversation a bit but fully explained how they'd exchanged fire. "I pulled out a tracking arrow," she explained. "But before I could shoot the boat just blew up. Sounds crazy, I know."

"We believe you," Wally said as they reached the car. "Trust me, we believe you." He turned his attention from her to the black SUV. A look of concentration fell onto his face. "Um, guys, we don't have the keys." His shoulders fell as Roy let out a groan of frustration.

"Wally, hold Ollie," Artemis commanded. She let Ollie's weight fall on to Wally before walking up to the driver's door. Using her bow, she smashed the window and reached through to unlock the doors. The alarms blared but no one was around to hear them. She yanked open the door, slid into the seat and set to work hardwiring the car. Though she could fell the stares boring into her back she didn't care. All that mattered was getting Ollie medical attention, no matter what the costs where. Once the engine started up, the alarms kicked off and she stepped out of the car. Both of the redheads stared at her in disbelief. "Let's get the injured man to a hospital," she snapped. Their trances were broken and they loaded Ollie into the back seat.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Wally asked as they all got in the car, Roy driving, Artemis in the passenger seat, and Wally in the back with Oliver. Roy stepped on the gas and drove through the maze of containers.

"My dad taught me several years ago," she sighed as she gazed out the window. He didn't reply, obviously sensing how touchy she was about her dad even after all they'd been through. The silence enveloped them once more as Roy steered towards the city.

"Artemis," Wally began, ending the stillness. "Do you think this is over? Now that he's dead." She bit her lip. That was the question she'd been asking herself since the explosion. The worst part was that she knew the answer and it wasn't one she wanted.

"I don't think so," she sighed. "Everything he did was planned perfectly, except for our conversation on the boat. It was sloppy. His actions on the boat were sloppy. He wasn't prepared for me to follow him. And the explosion. Someone blew up the boat and they're still out there." She shook her head slowly. "And they're the one who was after me." Wally placed his hand on her shoulder as Roy shot her a glance. They were with her until the end.

x

Sportsmaster watched his daughter fire off an arrow encasing the agent in trapping foam, for the fourth time. He skipped to the part where the boat exploded. "You knew he was going to fail the whole time," he muttered through his mask.

"Maybe not. But he was a pawn. When a pawn serves its purpose and becomes faulty you get rid of it. There's no reason to keep a faulty pawn." Sportsmaster turned to the man who had ordered the hit on his ex-wife. "Your daughter doesn't yet realize that resisting is futile. She'll understand in time."

"Why not use the ones she loves as blackmail?"

"Do you care for anyone?"

The question caught Sportsmaster by surprise. He hadn't really thought of his loved ones since Paula had kicked him out of his daughter's life. Even though he was working with Jade, there was no love between them. They still couldn't stand each other. "Not anymore," he finally replied. "But Artemis isn't me."

"She won't be useful if she has anyone left to care about. Since she refuses to let her loved ones go, we'll have to let them go for her." Sportsmaster glanced back at the screen as it played again, showing Artemis entering the storage building and finding the three victims. They may have lived through that but they weren't going to live for long.

"Just tell me what to do next."