"This isn't working out like I'd hoped," Artemis muttered, attempting to position her hands so the ropes didn't cut into her wrist. Her quiver was laying several feet from her. If she could reach that, she'd be able to free herself in no time.
"No. Really?" Roy hissed from behind her. He inhaled deeply causing his hands to brush past hers. "Because this is exactly how I wanted to spend my night, tied up and about to be killed." One of the goons with a gun spared him a glance before turning back to the card game that had broken out between the men.
Artemis rolled eyes. "Aren't you a bucket full of sunshine today?"
"The sarcasm isn't helping." He sighed heavily. This was supposed to be a simple mission. All they had to do was track down the robbers, stop them and throw them in jail. The usual routine. Unfortunately, this was more than a simple robbery. The two of them had stumbled on a group of well-trained thugs. Drug trafficking thugs, as it turned out. Even so, this wouldn't have been a problem. Both Roy and Artemis were trained for situations like this one, involving large amounts thugs with guns. They had snuck through the warehouse that was the base of operations, silently taking out guards as they went. Everything went according to plan until their little miscommunication.
"Oh, my sarcasm isn't helping? This is all your fault," Artemis snapped. "You shouldn't have attacked that guard without telling me." Her head was beginning to hurt from where they had collided. She'd probably have a nasty bump and a killer headache tomorrow. When Roy didn't reply she continued. "You do have a plan for getting out of here, right?"
"I'm working on it." The blonde flicked her ponytail over her shoulder. Great. While he worked on that plan, Artemis desperately tried to reach her quiver with her feet. Their pockets had been emptied of all knives and anything that might have helped their escape. These guys were smarter than the average idiot criminals that prowled Star City's streets. However, they weren't that smart. Artemis pushed against the floor with her knuckled and dragged herself forward with her feet until she was close enough to reach her equipment. She began pulling her quiver towards her with her boot.
A large hand belonging to a proportionately large thug who smelled of cheap cigars reached down and scooped up her quiver before she could get it close enough to her hands. He waggled a finger at her mockingly. "No escaping now. There's someone coming here that wants to see you." He exposed his yellow teeth in an ugly grin and pushed her back up against Roy. "Try a stunt like that again and we will shoot you." He turned from them and meandered back towards the card game.
"How's that plan going, Red?" she whispered once he was out of earshot. He let out a frustrated sigh as the loading bay door slid open. Most of her view was blocked by large boxes but she could see the top of a jeep as it backed into the warehouse.
"Alright," someone called. "Load 'er up!" There was a flurry of movement as people began moving boxes and loading them onto the jeep. Orders and directions were shouted out making the warehouse so loud that Artemis had to wonder how no one ever heard the commotion and called the police. Most residents of Star City minded their own business but something like this was a little hard to ignore.
There was a quieter voice coming around some boxes. A male laughed loudly. "Everyone's so scared of 'em. We couldn't believe it was actually them. They practically took each other out." Roy stiffened, the voice was talking about them. Whoever was talking steadily got closer. "I don't know what you want with 'em, though. We were just going to shoot 'em." There was a quieter voice that answered but Artemis couldn't make out the words. "Alright. We'll have the car whenever you ready to leave."
"Well, well, well," the second voice called as the owner stepped around the corner. "If it isn't my favorite little sister and my favorite archer." Cheshire crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her mask hid her face but Artemis could tell she was grinning. It wasn't every day that she got to taunt her sister like this and Jade was definitely enjoying the opportunity. "And Red's here, too," she added with a laugh. Artemis bit her lip and remained quiet. Meanwhile, she could feel Roy's finger's searching the ropes around her wrists. At least he'd come up with a plan. "What? No greetings for me? I can just feel the love dripping off of both of you." When neither of the archers answered she continued on without their input. "Well, this is just no fun. I guess I'll just leave you here to die."
The ropes around Artemis's wrists fell away after Roy fumbled with the knot and finally got it undone. She untied Roy's wrists in return. Jade glanced back at the jeep. "I think they're almost done loading up. I should get going." She crouched in front of Roy. He failed to stifle a sound of surprise. Artemis couldn't see either of them but she knew what had happened.
"Oh my god," she complained making a gagging noise. "That's my sister." Cheshire laughed as she crossed over and stood in front of the blonde. She even took off her mask to look the younger Crock in the eyes. There was a confident smirk covering her face.
"I'll tell Dad you said hello," she teased.
"I didn't know the League of Shadows was into drugs," Artemis replied. "Although, it doesn't surprise me."
Jade laughed heavily and her grin grew wider. "Drugs aren't what I'm after. These guys have something else I need." The blonde raised her eyebrows, encouraging her sister to continue. "Something for a little… side project of mine." A man came up behind Jade. She turned to him and he nodded. "I'll be there in a moment," she explained before facing Artemis again. She crouched down so they were eye level. "It's been fun, but I've got to go. I hope you make it out of here alive."
"Trust me, I will." Artemis pulled her hands out from behind her and brought her fist up to Jade's face before the older girl even knew what was happening. The impact of the punch sent Cheshire falling backward. Behind Artemis, Roy jumped to his feet. Artemis followed his lead. "Find the bows," she commanded. "I'll take Jade."
Cheshire had recovered and was on her feet again. "That wasn't very nice." She rushed towards the archer throwing punches. The blonde managed to get her hands up and block the blows. By then, others had noticed and were on their way. Artemis was quickly surrounded. Within a moment, several guns were pointed at her head. Jade smirked and backed up. A quick glance around confirmed the archer's fears and she was forced to slowly raise her arms above her head.
"Hey," one of the men called. "Where's the other-" An arrow cut through the air, breaking open to a net that caught many of the gunmen and cut off the speaker. It was quickly followed by a few exploding arrows, each landing at the feet of the men and throwing them into the air once the explosives went off. Artemis gazed in the direction of the arrows and saw that Roy had found their bows. She nodded a quick thanks to him.
"Watch out," he called. She turned back in time to see Cheshire attacking. The older girl had pulled out her blades and was slashing away. Artemis managed to jump away from most of the attacks but one nicked her arm, drawing blood. Roy's arrows flew passed as he kept the gunmen at bay. Artemis ducked another slash and swung her legs around to trip Cheshire. She went down but didn't stay down. As she stood up, the blonde delivered a roundhouse kick sending her backward. She didn't give up there, though. Jade rushed at Artemis again, combining the slashes with kicks and punches. Her attack pushed the archer back until she ran into a wall. She ducked the next kick causing Jade to ram her foot into the wall. Roy had started fighting his way toward them, using hand to hand combat with nearby opponents and arrows to fend off the ones farther away.
Cheshire spun around leisurely. "Looks like you caught me." With a quick movement, she threw down a smoke pellet. Artemis backed away, coughing. By the time the smoke cleared, Jade was gone. "Sorry I couldn't stay," she called from the jeep. "Places to go, people to see." She started up the jeep and it peeled out of the warehouse. Her sister raced to the opening but the car was long gone by the time she got there. The blonde stood there for a moment, panting heavily.
Roy had joined her within seconds. "Gone?" he asked dejectedly. Artemis slowly nodded. He handed her bow to her and turned to survey the warehouse. There were a few groans from the unconscious gunmen but otherwise, it was silent. The younger archer grabbed her quiver from where he'd dropped it onto the ground. Sirens flared up in the distance. "Let's get going." They each pulled out a grappling arrow and swung up onto a nearby building. The two archers spent a moment on the roof, Artemis rolling out her shoulders and Roy checking to make sure no one escaped until the police came. "Nice work tonight, Shorty," he murmured as they prepared to finish their patrol.
The blonde crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. "You're complimenting me? Seriously, who are you and what have you done with the real Roy Harper?"
"Oh, ha, ha," he muttered.
"You're really starting to freak me out." Roy only shook his head. "We better start patrol again." She pulled out an arrow but before she could notch it a gunshot rang out and the sound of a bullet smashing into the roof spread through the air. The bullet had passed right next to Roy's head and buried itself in the rooftop.
"Get down," Roy hissed. Artemis shook her head and followed the angle of the bullet. A figure a few rooftops away stood up and walked away. She watched it disappear and continued to stare at where it had been. "What was that?"
"That was a warning," she sighed, looking back at Red Arrow. "I told you this wasn't over."