I'm not gonna lie, my life hasn't been a cakewalk.
I am the youngest daughter of two assassins, one of whom was imprisoned when I was ten. They raised my sister and me by training us for the family business. My specialty was the bow and arrow, though dad insisted that I learn close combat as well. After mom was put in a wheelchair and locked up, training was brutal, and more than once we were dumped into situations where neither of us were equipped to save our own skins, much less each other. But whenever we were allowed to work together, we always made it out on top. I guess that's why it hurt so much when Jade ran away from home. I missed her so much.
Aside from rigorous assassin training, I think my childhood was decent, if only scraping the bottom of the barrel. I went to school, and dad insisted that I had an extracurricular, if only to keep our cover. I chose music and played bass. It was simple enough and the twang of strings was strangely comforting. And aside from school and training, and sometimes being dumped in a strange place with no idea how I got there, dad let me enjoy childhood. One of the few good memories I have is Jade and I reading Alice in Wonderland. Jade's favorite character had been the Cheshire Cat, able to disappear and reappear at will. But if Jade was a Cheshire cat, then I was Alice, because my life was Wonderland. A weird, uncontrollable march of events where I didn't know what to do half the time, and screwed up trying the other.
About four years after Jade left, when I was fourteen, I started sneaking out and patrolling the streets. It was mostly to get away from it all, at first. Then I realized I could use the training my father had pushed on us could be used to defend people who needed help. So, I made myself a suit and started clearing the streets. Mostly minor crooks, muggers. I hated killing, so I never used fatal measures. There was one night I saw a lady being robbed and I fired a warning arrow at the guy's feet. I guess he thought I missed because he snatched her purse and ran. His mistake. I put the next one through the sole of his right shoe and he tripped and fell on his face. His reaction was hilarious. He freaked out and started panicking, pulling out a knife and looking frenzied. I took a closer look at him and realized he was a total amateur with nothing better to do. His clothes were decent quality and his stance lacked any experience, not to mention the shaking.
Hey, all that training was good for something.
Another arrow and the knife went flying, and a fourth in the space between his legs sent him running away screaming, the purse forgotten. The lady picked it up then ran in the other direction, hopefully home or somewhere safe. Not for the first time, I wondered how the heck Gotham had become such a crime-ridden city in the first place, then I turned. There was something in the shadows, watching me. My first instinct was to notch an arrow in the direction and I did, but when nothing happened, I backed away, making sure to keep my bow trained on it. Looking back on it now, that was probably Batman, likely assessing what kind of person was working on his turf. He never confronted me about it then, nor after I joined the team; so I think he approved… However unlikely that may be. I guess from there he figured out who I was and approached my mom two years later. I still don't know how the heck he figured all of that out, but he's Batman, that usually settles it.
And then there was my first day on the team. That was a trip. As I'm being introduced, this guy walks in wearing a swimsuit and trips over his own two feet. Not the greatest first impression. I thought he was funny though, and it did take a lot of the tension I was feeling away. Of course, then Red Arrow showed up and then I don't know what happened, really. It was as if Wally – the guy who tripped – suddenly decided he didn't like my face. I had just joined and now Baywatch was on my case for just being here. Ironically enough, we started dating a few months later, and we're still going strong. Like I said before, Alice in Wonderland.
When I was a little girl, I thought I'd follow my parent's footsteps and wind up an emotionless, cold-blooded killer for hire. Now I help protect the world, I'm a student at Stamford, I have a boyfriend who loves me, and strangest of all: I have friends. I have friends who know my past, know who I used to be and still accepted me. I never thought I'd have that. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to change my life, and I'm glad that this one is mine. I am Artemis Crock, codename: Artemis. I'm an archer, a student, a hero, a sister, and a friend.