I grunted, trying to stagger under the heavy box, but found that it was just physically impossible. Conner grabbed it gently, lifting it from my grip.

"Thanks." I said emotionlessly.

He walked behind me as we followed Megan, Artemis, and Robin into Zatara's new room. He set the box down, and Megan turned to Zatara, "My room is right across the hall if you need anything."

Zatara nodded, "I just need… sometime alone."

We nodded, walking outside. I clenched my fists, sucking in a breath through my teeth. "That son of a… I'll kill him for this."

Conner put his hands on my shoulders, "Calm down, I know how you feel, but right now there's nothing you can do."

"Who are you to say I can't!" I hissed. "You don't know how I fell."

"Then tell me." He offered.

"Fine." I snapped. "I know what it's like to have the only parent you've ever had taken from you just like that! My mother was shot dead in front of me, at ten years old! I have nightmares about it every other night. I will never be able to forget that moment, I still remember the face of the man who shot her in cold blood."

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "We're the same now. Our roles are just reversed."

"What?" he asked.

"Me and Zatanna, both of us, we're the same now. One parent we are unable to remember, the other one killed in front of us." I explained. Artemis too, but her mom is still alive. Crippled, caged, but still alive. Her father is just like mine in nearly every way possible. It's scary really who similar we are. Can't keep our mouth shut, major Daddy problems, and now we're here.

I sighed, realizing what I was going to have to do now. From now on, no one hurts Zatanna, or Artemis. From now on, anyone who does, or tries to, is one more throat to slash, one more heart to stab, one more spine to snap. From now on, they're mine.

Someone cleared their throat, and I turned, to see Laura standing there. I raised an eyebrow, "Laura? What are you doing here?"

She shrugged, "Logan was worried about you. Thought you might have picked up some baggage. Apparently he was right."

"He was wrong." I said quickly. "I am fine, and he needs to stop hovering."

She shrugged, "Logan told me to stay for awhile."

"Logan needs to back off." I mumbled.

"Tell that to him." She said. "You're stuck with me for the week."

I groaned, "Fine."

Conner cleared his throat. I sighed, "Conner, Laura. Laura, Conner."

Laura nodded to Conner, who turned to me, "You mean…"

"Yeah Conner, the other resident clone." I said.

Laura raised an eyebrow, and Conner held out his hand, "Clone of Superman."

Laura paused for a moment, before a small smile crept onto her face. She shook his hand, "Clone of Wolverine."

"I know, Mio talks about you a lot." He said.

"Really?" Laura asked.

"No." I snapped.

"Just last week you told me how much she wished she could hang with you." Robin said, appearing out of no where.

"You don't talk about Laura much." Robin noted.

"Am I supposed to want to hang out with her? Sure. She's my coolest sister, but we're not that close of a family."

I glared at him. "No I didn't."

Robin shrugged, "That's what it sounded like to me."

"I hate you so much."

"You live here in the cave, right?" Laura asked.

"No, I have an apartment." I said, "Solitude and all that."

I didn't mean to be a brat, or unwelcoming, but I just really hated to be babysat. Babysitting was my job now.

Laura nodded, and I shrugged, "Feel free to head over there now, or just hang here. I've got a class to teach with the resident Barbie."

I headed to the training room, Artemis was already there. "What kept you?"

"One of my sisters is here." I said, shrugging.

"If you wanna go hang with her, I can wait until tomorrow for this." Artemis offered.

"No problem Barbie, I already said hello."

"You just… said hello?" Artemis asked. "But she's your sister-"

"Yeah, I get it, you're shocked and a bit repulsed because I'm not all big sister worship and she's not all I love my little sister." I snapped. "I know that you've got daddy problems, and maybe that's the reason you're always nipping at my heels like a little pit-bull puppy hyped up on crack, because you think we're in the same boat, because you see me as what you think you'll become after you get through it. But you're wrong. I have a dead mother, shot right in front of me, and I could care less about any of my sisters."

Artemis' eyes widened, "You don't… mean that-"

"I do." I insisted. "You might think that you want to be like me Artemis, but in reality, you'll never be."

She stared at me in disbelief, betrayal, and hurt. I just glared at her, "You gonna cry now? Cause I'm not stabbing myself in the gut, okay? My suicidal streak is over, thank you very much."

Someone cleared their throat, and I turned to see Laura leaning against the wall, frowning at me. No big, when did she ever smile anyways?

"Mio, I talked to Batman, you've got the rest of the day off." She said coldly. Great, now she was gonna get snippy with me. Tell me I'm cruel, tell me that I need to shape up and be nicer to the little Barbie, not gonna happen.

"I didn't ask for it." I said, I wasn't going to give in that easily.

"You've got it of. Now you can either come willingly, or I can gut you and drag you out by your intestines." She threatened.

"Fine." I growled, following her out.

I sat shot gun in the pick up truck she had borrowed from Logan, glaring out my window.

"What are you doing Mio?" She asked.

"… Looking out the window." I said, unsure why she would ask that.

"What are you doing to those kids?" She asked, a little angrier.

"Teaching them." I said. "If you've got a problem, you can step up and do it."

"If you don't shape up, I will." She growled. "It won't be hard to convince Batman you aren't the right person for the job, and tell him I'd step in."

"You're unstable, more so than me." I said easily. "Artemis won't leave me alone, no matter how many times I tell her, she still keep talking to me, asking for more training from me specifically, and still thinks of me as some kind of… some kind of-"

"Mentor." She finished.

"Yeah." I mumbled.

"Like how you look at Logan."

"Ye- wait, no!" I protested.

"Logan talked to me about… certain things." She said carefully. She wasn't prosecuting me anymore, she was trying to gently sway me. Fat chance.

"What things?" I pressed.

"He says you might be going through some… depression, and he's worried about you."

"He was born worried." I retorted.

"He has a right to be." She insisted, "You're his only granddaughter."

"You're his only 'daughter' but he doesn't send Rogue or Rayne to check up on you." I snapped.

"I'm older, more experienced, and I'm not emotionally bashing children." She snapped. "You're still not going to listen to a word I say, are you?"

"Do I ever?" I retorted.

"I'm taking you to see a friend of mine." She said, shaking her head at my tone.

"Gambit?"

"No."

"Where is he anyway?" I asked.

"Waiting with that friend I told you about."

"Do I know her?"

"Not really, but you owe her your life." She said, pulling the car over, and getting out at a Subway.

I followed her in, frowning as I saw Gambit sitting across from a beautiful woman with brown eyes and black hair. Gambit and the woman were flirting shamelessly, and I felt the need to call for the priest.

Stuff like that didn't happen in Japan. Everything was traditional courtship and arranged marriages. I didn't agree with arranged marriages, but there weren't many in our small town. I had only known of one, and they had both wanted to be married to each other anyway.

Gambit stood up, smiling at me, "Petite! You've grow up quite a bit!"

"Hey Gambit." I said, nodding to him.

"Last time I saw ya, you were 'bout dat big." He said, gesturing with his right hand about half a foot below my current height.

"The last time you saw me where I could actually stand." I mumbled, remembering him carrying me over his shoulder to an ambulance Tyger Tiger had waiting. I had been in a wheel chair for a few days, yeah that was embarrassing…

"Is all wader under de bridge petite." He waved off. "You're looking good d'ough."

"You too." I nodded, then turned to the woman. She wasn't familiar at all, but if Remy knew her well enough, it was safe to say she was a criminal. Batman wouldn't approve. Who cared?

The woman nodded to me, "Mio, nice to finally meet you face to face. Well, I've seen you, but you've never really seen me."

"Name." I demanded.

"Rude." She said, a sly smirk sneaking onto her face.

"Don't care. Name." I ordered.

"Cheshire." She said, with a cold sense of pride.

"Artemis' sister who abandoned her to the mercy of a violent mad man. Leaving a ten year old girl to care for her mother who was in jail, and fend for herself." I accused.

"And you're the bastard child of Daken Akihiro." She countered. "Mass murderer, wanted by Hydra, and many other dirty dealing facilities, cold blooded killer turned Young Justice's lap dog, and probably the most important of all, Wolverine's prodigy."

"Den Mother." I corrected.

"What?"

"I'm their Den Mother, not lap dog." I explained. "Or babysitter when I'm feeling angry."

"Which is all the time?" She asked, curious.

I sat down across form her, "No, I only act angry all the time. I'm really only angry half the time."

"Which time is right now?" She asked.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"How you answer this next question." I said, glaring at her, "Why do you want to see me."

"I want to talk about Artemis." She said, not skipping a beat.

"If you're looking to try and take her away from Young Justice, or corrupt her in any way, then you'll be dead in the next ten minutes." I threatened.

"Oh, I have no doubt you could kill me." She said. "Ten minutes sounds like a bit of a stretch though."

"You haven't seen me trying." I countered.

I heard Gambit mumble to Laura, "Ya sure dis was a good idea?"

She never replied, so I just continued. "I'd start with the arms."

"I see." She said, "How deep?"

"I'd start out only cutting into them about a fourth of an inch, just to start you bleeding." I explained. "Then I'd go for a leg joint, knee, ankle, hip, any of them. You'd then be good as dead."

"And after the joint?" She asked.

"I'd go for your face." I answered.

"Why my face?"

"If you cut someone on the face, they can never forget it, and neither can anyone around them." I explained. "That's what I like best about torture, the face hacking."

She nodded, "Although that's interesting, I'm here to talk about Artemis."

"What do you want with her?" I asked.

She looked behind me, to Laura and Gambit, they took the hint and left. She turned to me, her expression unreadable.

"Despite being young, we all knew, even Dad knew, that Artemis, even before Mom had her accident-"

"It was no accident." I interrupted.

I stuck my hand out form underneath Conner's motorcycle, "Wrench."

Artemis handed it to me slowly. I could smell her emotions easily, she wanted to talk. "Somethin' on your mind kid?"

She shrugged, "Kind of. Just… it's the anniversary of my Moms, uh… accident."

I raised an eyebrow, sitting up slowly, putting thoughts of fixing Conner's motorcycle to the side of my subconscious.

"What's wrong Barbie?" I asked.

"… My dad, you know him?" She asked.

"I clashed with him once." I said, nodding. "He's got some skill going for him, I'll give him that. If I didn't have a healing factor, he probably would have killed me about five times."

She rubbed the back of her neck, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize." I ordered.

"Oh, that's right, you don't like it when people apologize." She mumbled.

"Not that I don't like it." I said. "If someone really owes me one, you have no idea the extremes I go to get it. But if they don't, it really ticks me off when they say sorry."

"You ever said sorry to someone?" She asked.

"Only one."

"Who?" She asked, again with the questions?

"My mother." I then decided that story time was over, "Now, about your Dad?"

"Well, he crippled my mother the day she got out of jail." She whispered.

I stared at her in disbelief, and she continued, but I wish she hadn't. "I was right there…"

I hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, "Artemis, I know words can't really consol this kind of thing, but… trust me, I've been there, way down there, and I'm living proof, that it'll get better. Just… don't dwell."

"But… you dwell."

"That's why you shouldn't dwell."

"Your father crippled her, right in front of Artemis." I said. Surprise flashed across her face. "You didn't know?"

"I knew he crippled her purposefully, but I didn't think that…"

"That he would force Artemis to watch." I finished.

"And that she would-"

"Tell me." I cut in once more.

"Tell you so quickly." She mended.

I raised an eyebrow, and she glared at me, as if she was tired of explaining something. "Will you give me a few minutes of your time, off the record?"

"No." I said.

"Of course you wont, not because of your moral code, or your ties to the Justice League, X-men, or Logan. It's because you don't like me. No one really likes me, you know why?"

"You annoy them?" I asked. I had always been the ranter, not the rantee. I can see how people don't like it now.

"Because I'm a screw up." She said "Always have been. My mother always made me walk Artemis to school first day every year. Every year, I'd walk her to the wrong school." She laughed happily, shaking her head, "Just because I wanted to!"

I put on an obvious fake smile, "Wow, that's a great story! Really! And I'm sure your just a horrible big sister, but I'm afraid you have me confused with somebody who gives a crap. And it's okay you don't need to be embraced about your mistake, happens all the time! For instance, my father's probably going to make the same mistake on his death bed."

"Listen Mio, no offence, I'm a big fan of the tough girl all on her own against the world doesn't care about anyone act, but let me tell you what I really think." She said, "I think you love the fact that these kids idolize you."

I put on a stony face, glaring at her and daring her to continue.

"Artemis was always the one in the family we knew, even Dad, she was going someplace. Good kid, smart kid, beautiful way of seeing the world, and the way it moved, and moving against it instead of with it. But somehow, you've found a way to beat that out of her, haven't you?" She accused.

I thought back to our talks, I had constantly criticized heroes, how saving people was pointless, they would die anyway, and how we as heroes, we were just trying to stall the inevitable. How we were fighting a battle we would never win.

"You've turned her into some kind of cynical person, who seems to despise what she does and think of it as a waste of time now." She said, glaring at me.

She took a deep breath, looking at her hands, folded perfectly on the table, then back up at me. "Mio, Artemis is never going to look up to me. Ever. But she hangs on your every word like your some kind of goddess, like you're her… big sister."

She laughed a little, shaking her head, then looked back up at me, "So I'm asking you… I'm telling you, take that responsibility seriously, stop being such a hard ass to her, other wise, you're gonna have to answer to me."

We held eye contact for a moment, before she stood up, "Good seeing you Mio."

I stood up as well, shaking her hand. "Good to see you as well Jade."

She left, and I didn't bother listening to she were she was going, I already knew. Out of town, and fast. Couldn't risk anyone seeing her, not close to Artemis. It would blow her reputation, no matter what excuse she used, right out the window.

I walked out of Subway, the guy at the counter giving me weird looks. Gambit raised an eyebrow at me, "What'd she want?"

I glared at him, "You didn't know what she wanted and you let her be alone with me? Cheshire, seriously?"

"She promised me she wouldn't kill ya, or try to." He said, trying to be innocent.

I then paused, remembering what Laura had said. I looked over at Laura, "What did you mean when you said I owed her my life?"

"She was the one who told Remy where you were in Madripor." She answered.

My eyes widened, "What was she doing in Madripor?"

"I don't know, and I didn't want to ask." She said.

"… How did she know where I was?"

"She said she was staying in a cheap hotel near the basement you were kept in, heard you screaming for hours. Figured you were dead. She was shocked when Daken left the hotel to join me a the facility, and nearly fainted when she heard you moaning. She said she went into the room, and saw you laying there, didn't know who you were, couldn't recognize your face, it was to mauled." She explained.

"Why did she just… leave me there?" I asked, anger billowing up inside of me. I was in indescribable pain in that room, and she just walked away.

Gambit put a hand on my shoulder, "She stood dere for awhile, to grossed out with de idea you was still alive, and in dat condition. Told me later dat she began to notice ya leg muscles were beginning to reattach themselves to ya legs. Knew den dat ya had ta be related to Logan, cause with ya arm muscles scarped off, she could se the claws laying in ya arm bones."

I nodded, "But… why didn't she try to help me?" At the state I was in, someone's voice would have sufficed, it would have helped, just a little. Reminded me that I could pull trough it, because I honestly thought I was going to die.

"Don't know, ya gotta rememba, she isn't a good guy, but she got morals petite." Gambit said gently.

I nodded, turning to Laura, "Can we… talk?"

She nodded, "I've been waiting for you to say that since I got here."