Oops! Sorry for the long wait... I'll let you get to the chapter then.
Shit. Artemis cursed as she saw everyone stand up and start to run, now that the supposed shooter was shot by someone else. The idiots think it's safer to run than it is to stay low she noticed. Knowing that her sniper rifle would be useless with too many innocent people running around, she stood up, grabbed her bow and fired a zip line arrow at the building opposite her. Looks like I'm going to have to get my hands dirty she thought with little enjoyment. She secured her mask before she jumped onto the zipline.
Crashing through a window, she only created more chaos. But the Triad had come out of their hiding places, and Artemis couldn't see who their real target was. All she knew was that she had to stop them.
Immediately, a man came at her with a gun pulled and Artemis stopped him dead in his tracks. Another grabbed her from behind, putting her in a chokehold. A very good one, by the looks of it. Artemis shifted her body weight up, making him feel as though he was picking her up. Once her feet were off the ground, she threw them downwards, making the man tip forward and loosen his grip. Artemis took advantage of this and slammed him over her shoulder and down on his back, kicking him to keep him down.
People were beginning to pick up on the fact that now was a good time to clear out. Oliver Queen, however, wasn't one of those people. Grabbing his sister and Roy, he pushed them to Diggle, making it clear that Diggle's first priority was Thea and Roy, not Oliver. Once he saw they were safely out of harm's way, he turned to see the fight.
The girl – Artemis, he knew now – was taking on five guys, all on her own. While Oliver was impressed, he was also somewhat confused as to what she was doing there. He couldn't think about that at the moment. Soon enough, Artemis would be overwhelmed and there was nothing he could do about it as Oliver Queen. Well, nothing too influential.
Running over to the fight, he saw one member of the Triad pull a knife behind Artemis. Grabbing a bar stool, he smashed it over his head. Upon hearing the commotion, Artemis turned around and for the first time saw Oliver there.
They stayed there for what seemed like an hour, but was more likely only a second. Then, Artemis nodded to him. In that moment, it seemed they had reached an understanding. Oliver turned and bolted, running first to see if Thea, Roy and Diggle had gotten out okay.
Artemis still had plenty of the Triad to take out, but she couldn't stop thinking about what was happening. She had just saved Oliver Queen's life, as there was no doubt he was the target of the Chinese Triad. Someone she despised. But she couldn't think about that right now. Not while she was in the middle of a fight.
Shooting, punching. That was all she could think about. As she took down the men who attacked her, she heard the click of a gun behind her. Turning around, she saw China White standing there, pointing a pistol at her. The two men left grabbed Artemis from behind, restraining her as China walked closer and lowered the gun to talk.
"Artemis Crock," she said. "It's been a while."
"Can't say I've missed it," Artemis responded, earning her a punch in the gut.
"Your father always told me about your insolence," China said. "He'll be glad to know I put you out of your misery." China raised the gun once more. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, an arrow shot through the air and knocked the gun out of her hand.
"Let her go," a deep voice proclaimed. Artemis turned to see Oliver standing there, or rather the Arrow as he was now known. "Now."
"Looks like your friend is here to save you," China quipped to Artemis before turning to face the Arrow.
"He's not my friend," Artemis said, though it was ignored by the others.
"This is Triad business, Arrow. I suggest you stay out of it," China said.
"Not going to happen until you release the girl," Oliver said. "You have five seconds."
"I can do a lot with five seconds," China said slyly.
"Four," Oliver said. China looked back to them men holding Artemis.
"Three," he said. His bow was still pointed at China White. Everything seemed to slow for Artemis.
"Two." Artemis looked to China, trying to see her plan. When China revealed none, she looked back to the Arrow. He's going to get me killed.
"One." Just as Oliver let an arrow fly towards China, she ducked and threw a knife at him. Artemis took the commotion as a cover to headbutt one of her captors in the nose and stomp on the other's foot. She was able to get enough slack to weasel her way out of their grasp and dived to grab her dropped bow.
While she took on the two last standing, Oliver went after China. It was easy work for Artemis to take care of her two, having a new fire burning awoken from Oliver – the Arrow – showing up. Once she disposed of the two men, she turned to see Oliver and China gone. She scanned for all the possible places they could have gone. Seeing an arrow imbedded into the wall next to a hallway, Artemis figured that was her best shot.
She ran down the hall, looking for the two when she stopped. What was she doing? Why was she doing this? She could just as easily leave China and the Arrow to fight each other, preferably finish the other off. But then she remembered the visit from Slade, the negotiation, and the fact that she was exposed now to the Triad. Humiliating China, even just a little bit, would mean that they'd be after her full force, and maybe even have her father pick up the trail as well.
All of those reasons meant there was no turning back now for her. She knew she'd never forgive herself if she was killed in hiding rather than out fighting every step of the way. She gripped her bow tighter as she followed the trail up a flight of stairs to find China and Oliver engaged in a fight. Oliver kept trying to get enough distance to fire an arrow, but China wouldn't let him. Artemis notched an arrow, aiming it at China.
"Hey!" she shouted to get their attention. China threw one last punch at Oliver before turning around to see the arrow pointed at her. Luckily, this gave Oliver a change to trap China in a headlock. Artemis ran towards them, but China used the same maneuver Artemis had to escape his hold.
And then it was a two-on-one fight. China played mostly defense, but made sure the fight wasn't completely out of her favor. It was strange how well the two seemed to work together. Artemis attributed it to the fact that they were both archers. That was the only thing that made sense. While one took China on hand-to-hand, the other was ready to provide support. China still managed to hold her own, which didn't surprise Artemis as she was one of the best. But she and the Arrow were making headway, and the fight wouldn't last much longer.
Surprisingly, she was right. A bright light filled the area from the windows as a helicopter hovered at the side of the building. A figure stood on the edge of the helicopter, waving for China to jump in. China kicked the Arrow back away from her and threw a knife at Artemis to keep her from pursuing as she jumped through the window and into the bed of the helicopter. Oliver notched an arrow, probably with a tracker attached to the end of it, and hit the helicopter as it flew away.
They stood there for a moment, watching the helicopter disappear. Looking down, Artemis saw the flashing blue and red lights indicating the cops were probably on their way up to Oliver and Artemis.
"We need to talk," Oliver said, his voice still hidden by whatever device he used to hide distort it. Artemis didn't see a need for such theatrics for herself, but he had an identity to protect.
"We need to ditch the cops first," Artemis said. She knew it would be easy enough to get away, but she wanted to stall the oncoming conversation as much as possible. Oliver smirked at the girl's obvious uneasiness around him.
"Come on," he said, leading her to a side stairwell. Artemis figured she didn't have much of a choice as to otherwise. They easily avoided the cops, who by now were focusing on the main floor save Officer Lance, who had noticed the same arrow that had led Artemis to Oliver and China. Oliver led her through the parking garage to a motorcycle.
"That's our ride?" Artemis asked as Oliver swung his leg over the side, silently answering her question. "Subtle." Oliver gave her a pointed glare as she sighed and got on behind him. This is just perfect she thought sarcastically. On her way to God knows where with the vigilante.
Alright, that's our chapter! Looks like Artemis and Oliver are finally going to talk, and we saw some action from them. Let me know your opinions, and I do think that I'm going to go up to at least 2x12, I don't know about 2x13 because I might want to do something else... I'll leave it at that :D