AN: Okay, this is so late because I was really reluctant to post this chapter. My writing was kind of a mess when I wrote this chapter, and none of my rewrites have been any better. It's just one of those chapters that I can't get right, sorry.

Travis doesn't normally worry about Cass. He's learned that she's reckless and unpredictable and worrying is only going to confuse Cass. So he doesn't. Travis pushes any worry he has into the back of his mind and pushes on with life. He cannot stop the worry, however, when Artemis calls him from Cass's phone. Mis confirms the fact that she's in a hospital and gives him a brief description of what happened. The fact that Mis says Cass is fine, doesn't reassure him in the slightest. The worry nags at him the whole plane ride back to Gotham. He doesn't think his worry can increase. When he lands in the airport, Mis is there to greet him with some other guy he doesn't know. Trav is instantly on guard. When Artemis introduces the guy as Roy, Cass's date, his guard loosens but is replaced with slight anger. If both Artemis and Roy are here picking him up, then who's with Cass? He voices such thoughts and Mis reassures him that Cass is going to stay out until at least noon because of the pain killers. That eases the worry somewhat. It comes back with a vengeance though when they walk into her hospital room to find it empty.

"'With the number of painkillers she's on she won't wake up until at least noon' she said." Travis mocked. He knew it wasn't Mis's fault, but he's worried. Cass's first instinct would have been to call him or Mis. Artemis though, isn't one to take things lying down.

"She shouldn't have! They had her on pretty high painkillers and reassured us several times that no normal person would be awake for hours." Travis gestures to the empty bed.

"Cass isn't normal Mis!" He yells. Artemis is just about to snap back at him when muscles, sorry Roy, inserts himself into the conversation.

"What do you mean, Cass isn't normal?" Trav runs a hand over his face. The last thing they needed was to explain Cass's Meta status and Travis really doesn't want to tell this guy anything. That's Cass's business. Artemis doesn't seem to have a problem with it though.

"Cass is a Meta human." Roy looks shocked for a minute before shaking his head.

"Okay, that doesn't matter right now. Right now, we need to find her. Preferably without gaining the attention of the media." It takes a minute for Travis to remember that Roy was a celebrity, or his father was one anyways. Travis gives a big sigh and pulls his laptop from his bag.

"Okay, first I'm going to check her out with an all clear so that no one questions her disappearance." Roy raises an eyebrow as Travis types, but doesn't say anything. Travis continues.

"Now that that's done." He pulls up security footage of the hospital. They don't have cameras in the rooms themselves, but Trav saw several in the hallways. He glances up at the pair huddling over his shoulder.

"What time did you two leave this morning?"

"Around nine o'clock," Mis says. Travis pulls up that time stamp. Sure enough Artemis and Roy are seen leaving the room. He fast forwards a little bit.

"Wait, stop! Go back!" Roy exclaims. There on the footage, Cass is limping out of the room. Nodding, Travis pulls the files need to follow her progress. The three watch as she snags a crutch that was leaning against a wall while the nurse was busy. Her progress is faster after that. She manages to get out of the hospital in three minutes total. Travis is somewhat impressed but also confused. Cass wouldn't have just walked out of the hospital like that. Not when she was limping so badly.

"I don't understand," Artemis says. "Why didn't she just call us using one of the hospital phones, or wait till we got back?" Travis doesn't have an answer.

"Could it be possible that her head injury messed with her memory?" Roy suggests. Both Travis and Artemis freeze at that idea. If Cass was missing memories, then they were in trouble.

"When was the last time you were unavailable to talk to Cass?" Travis questioned. Artemis catches on to his drift. If Cass was thrown back enough that she didn't think she could reach either Travis or her, then they had a rough time period. They could use that to figure out what Cass was planning to do.

"About a year ago, I wasn't answering her calls for months." Travis pushed harder.

"What months?"

"Um… I think it was between October and December. We finally reconnected a couple of days before Christmas." Both Roy and Artemis could see the cogs turning in Travis's brain.

"That lines up with when I was away for…" He hesitates and glances at Roy, "work." Roy catches the glance, but decides to worry about Travis's lies later. Right now he had to find Cass.

"So she's out there and thinks it's a year before. Where would she have gone a year before?"

"I have no clue." Travis says. Artemis jumps in.

"She might have recognized Gotham and headed back to the apartment." Roy nods.

"We'll start there then." The three head out and Travis dwindles back enough to talk with Artemis without being overheard.

"Why'd you tell him about Cass's Meta abilities?"

"Relax, I know Roy. I trust him. Roy won't care. It's also not like I told him exactly what her abilities are. That's Cass's business. Not mine." Travis gives Artemis a look that clearly indicates how much of an idiot he thinks she is.

"You trust him? How long have you known the guy Mis? Since yesterday afternoon?" Artemis gives him an affronted look.

"No! I actually knew him before Cass met him. No I won't tell you more." She declared at his open mouth. Travis huffed and crossed his arms.

"If something happens to Cass because you jumped the gun Mis, the blame is on you." He speeds ahead to join Roy and attempt small talk. Artemis purses her lips behind the pair and joins them in the taxi.

We're coming Cass, she thinks.

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The apartment is suspiciously empty when they get there. (And Roy really doesn't want to know where Travis picked up lock picking since he forgot his key.) Closer inspection of the place reveals that there are things missing. Her favorite shoes, a backpack, some clothes, and a small amount of food are gone. Cass beat them there. Travis's worry is starting to seep through his poorly constructed mask. Roy feels bad for the guy. He's looking for his little sister who had just nearly died from an explosion, has a busted knee, is missing a year of memory, and is currently loose in one of the biggest crime cities in America. Just one of those things would be enough to make someone worry. Artemis has disappeared somewhere in the apartment to check and see if other 'important' items have gone missing as well. The way she say's important makes him doubt that his kinda-sorta girlfriend is on the right side of the law. He's mentally filing this information away as possible evidence against Artemis. Just because he's working with her now, doesn't mean he won't bring her down later. Roy is convinced that Artemis is a mole. And just like Artemis seems willing to do anything to make sure her sister is safe, Roy is willing to do anything to make sure his brothers are safe.

"Nothing." Mis declares when she comes back into the room Travis's head snaps up from where he's browsing through some tablet.

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Travis asks.

"I mean, everything's gone." Roy's had enough of their cryptic talk. He wants answers and he wants them now.

"What's gone? While we're at it, what was this work you had?" He gestures to Travis. "What Meta abilities does Cass have? How is she even able to walk, when the doctor said she most likely wouldn't be able to?" Artemis gives him a long stare. Travis just looks back to his computer.

"I can't tell you that." She admits. He's about to protect when she holds up a hand. "Let me explain. It's Cass's business. I won't betray her trust and tell you more. I will tell you that it's all connected and because of Cass's Meta abilities, there's a good chance that her knee will be well enough to use." Roy shakes his head.

"Will you at least tell me if she's doing something illegal or not?" It's Travis who speaks this time.

"Cass is. I am. Artemis is not. Are you satisfied?" The truth is that Roy is not satisfied. He wants to know exactly what Cass and Travis are doing that's illegal and how Artemis knows about it. He holds back though because even if Cass is doing something illegal, he still wants to make sure she's safe. And he still feels pulled to her despite what he just learned. Artemis and Travis go back to searching through Cass's apartment in hopes of finding something to lead them to her. (Well, Travis goes back to his computer searching.) "Her uncle was an a******." He recalls Artemis's statement in the hospital. Did Cass's uncle push her towards whatever illegal activities she's caught up in? Roy figured that he should just ask Cass later. He joined Artemis is searching the apartment, though he had no idea what he was looking for. Roy was surprised that Cass was clearly a shopaholic. Her closet was filled with clothes. On instinct, he ventures deeper into the room. In the back corner he notices a hatbox. There's a line of dust around it, but it doesn't line up exactly. The box had been recently moved. Roy reaches up and pulls it down. It's heavier than he expected. He gently places it on the floor and opens the lid. The thing is filled to the brim with small mementos and pictures. On the top is a simple, handwritten poem. He recognizes it at "I Have a Rendezvous with Death". They had to read it in school once. Roy digs deeper into the box. He bypasses most of the photos; he feels they aren't his to look at. The ones he does see all include Artemis. He's not quite sure what he's looking for but he knows he's found it when he reaches the bottom of the box. There underneath all the photos and written words lies a single sketchbook. He pulls it out and flips open the first page. It's a portrait of a young boy. He's probably around Robin's age, but the only thing you can tell from the black and white drawing is that he has light hair and light skin. On the back in curly writing is the name Peter Mendale. There's a list of things underneath it. Mostly innocent stuff, his favorite color or movie genre. At the end it gets a little darker. Died June 18th. There are not further comments on the page and no year follows that declaration. There's a drawing of Artemis on the next page. She looks close to ten years old, and her hair is much shorter than it is now but it's defiantly her. The name on the back confirms it. The same type of list is on the back of this one, though it includes her birthday in place of the death date. Roy quickly skims through the rest of the book. He notices there's one of Travis, and other unrecognizable people. Each one is black and white and looks more like a photograph than a drawing. Each one also has a name and list on the back. Some of them have death dates as well, which are joined by what look like tear stains. He sees Artemis and Travis growing up through the years. Roy stops when he comes upon Batman's picture. There aren't any other heroes in the book, this is the first one. He wonders why Batman has been added. From what he can tell, these are mostly friends or at the very least, acquaintances.

Maybe she just wanted to draw the mysterious Batman. Roy throws that thought out as soon as it comes. This picture is way too detailed and accurate for it to mean anything other than the fact that Cass had been within arm's reach of the guy. And the fact that it's featured in this book shows that it was more than once. Roy hears footsteps approaching and he flips to the next page intent on getting all the information he can from this book. It's him. He almost drops the book in shock. Cass drew him in her sketchbook. Somehow, he knows that that is a big deal.

"Huh. That says a lot." Roy's jerked out of his thoughts when Travis voices this right over his head. Roy berates himself as he realizes that Travis snuck up on him.

"What do you mean 'that says a lot'?" He barks out. His voice is ruff and angry and he snaps the book closed with a thud. Roy's eyebrows are drawn together as he glares at Travis. Not liking the height advantage the guy has over him right now, Roy stands up. He's pleased to find that he is in fact taller than Travis. Travis's eyes are level with his nose.

"I mean, she only puts in people who have made an impact on her in that book." Instead of backing down at Roy's abrupt aggressiveness, he rolls his eyes.

"Batman made an impact on Cass?" Roy crosses his arms in an attempt to reign in his anger. It's irrational to be mad at Travis when really he's madder at Cass. Travis rubs his neck.

"Well yeah. She's here in Gotham for a job; she's crossed paths with the Bat a couple times."

"I suppose you won't tell me what type of job she was here for." It's more of a statement than a question, and Travis doesn't bother answering it.

"That's between you and her." He supplies instead. Artemis chooses this as a perfect moment to burst in.

"I think I've found her!" Instantly both guys are rushing out of the closet and following Artemis to the kitchen. Artemis pulls up a holographic touch screen from the kitchen island and Roy's eyebrows shoot up. The island counter looks just like… well… a counter. There's nothing to indicate that it could be a screen, and when Roy taps the corner of it, it seems just as solid as a regular counter. He pulls his mind back to the present when Artemis pulls up a map of the city with a blinking red dot.

"How'd you find her?" Travis demands. Artemis looks slightly sheepish.

"I tagged some of her…" Artemis glances at Roy, "things a while back." Roy's eyes narrow, but he knows he'll get answers when they find Cass.

"You put a tracker on your best friend?" Suddenly glaring and grouchy Artemis is back.

"Don't tell me you haven't tried with Rob –" She almost goes to continue his name but catches herself, "or with Wally!" Roy has tried, but that's not the point. (Also both are more like brothers than his best friend, his best friend is Kaldur.)

"That's not the point!"

"Then what's the point, Roy?" Travis cuts in before they can dissolve into an all-out screaming match.

"Enough, we need to go get Cass before she hurts herself." Roy is secretly thankful for the disruption because he would never admit it, but Roy had no idea where he was going with that argument. Artemis huffs and mumbles curse words under her breath. The pair simultaneously turn around and walk in different directions to grab their jackets and head out the door. The elevator ride down is tense, and Travis carefully makes sure that he is not between both Roy and Artemis there or in the taxi. He may not want them to argue but he isn't stupid. If Roy and Mis do start to argue again and it escalates to blows, he does not want to be in the middle. Travis isn't a very physical person. Sure he knows a few moves because Cass wants him to have at least some self-defense skills, but he has no doubt that he stands zero chance if he wants to stay in Mis's way. And looking at Roy, Travis is pretty sure that the guy knows a few moves. There was a reason that Trav had nicknamed him muscles earlier. When they finally reach the address of Cass's last know location (it had dropped off several minutes ago) they're surprised to see that it's a mall. Travis all but throws himself out of the taxi the moment it stops. Roy and Artemis haven't stopped glaring at each other. He wonders where the tolerance from earlier went. Artemis groans loudly when she steps out.

"Of course she would go to the mall."

"I know, we should have thought of this earlier. It would also explain why her tracker stopped; there could be interference from other security features in the stores."

"Why would it be obvious that Cass would go to the mall?" Before Mis can snap at him like he knows she plans, Travis answers his question.

"Because Cass is a major shopaholic. She won't ever admit it, and she'll give you a million and one reasons as to why she isn't, but she is."

Roy digested this new piece of information. After seeing Cass's closet he had had his suspicions, but they made it seem bigger than he thought it was.

"Yeah, Cass loves shopping almost as much as she loves coffee. It's a really close thing." Artemis drawled.

"Wait seriously?" Roy asked.

"You know about her coffee addiction?" Travis questioned.

"Uh, yeah. We met at a coffee shop and I asked her for coffee without thinking. She downed a whole cup in seconds in order to go get another cup." Travis made an impressed noise.

"Yeah, that sounds like Cass. She drinks the stuff like most people drink water. When she's really tired she'll pour an energy drink into it; there's no stopping her then." While Travis and Roy were talking, Artemis had gotten fed up and walked towards the mall.

"You boys coming?" She called over her shoulder. The pair scrambled after her.

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Cass was in the shopping mall and trying to make sense of what was going on when her gut gave an awful wrench in her stomach. She was instantly on guard. Not changing her posture or her speed, Cass continued to browse through the clothes that were hanging from the rack. She subtly glanced around in hopes of spotting something strange. Is that, Artemis? She looked around some more. Wait. That's Travis. There was no doubt; Cass would know the pair anywhere. Why were they here? Wasn't Travis off in some small country playing undercover games? And she was pretty sure that Mis was dealing with personal stuff that she didn't want to talk about. That's why they hadn't been in contact for months. Cass wanted nothing more than to stay and find out just what was going on but instincts were screaming at her to run. Her instincts could be wrong, it could just be paranoia. But why would they both be pretending they didn't see her? Artemis would have seen her right away and Travis had this creepy radar thing from all the times Cass had snuck up on him. He could tell she was near from a block away. (She swore that Trav was secretly a Meta with weird homing and tracking capabilities, but his DNA said otherwise.) Something wasn't right. She decided that running was her best option. Cass straightened the crutch she had been partially leaning on. It was pretty much useless now that her leg was mostly better but one should never underestimate the power of underestimation. If Mis and Trav thought that she hadn't gotten the energy up to heal her knee, then they would be quickly lost when she started jumping from roof to roof. With this in mind, Cass moved as quickly as she could without rousing suspicion. Her heart thumped in her chest as she moved towards the parking garage on the other side of the mall. A quick glance in the mirror of a makeup kiosk showed both Mis's and Trav's bobbing heads in the crowd. A snort escaped her. For two assassins they sure can't follow a person. Well, one and a half, she amended. The Meta led the pair though the local Macy's. As soon as she rounded the corner into Women's she dropped the crutch and took off. Cass was already out in the garage when she heard the feet pounding behind her. She ran up the steps three at a time. Mental curses filled her mind. Even though she had been able to heal her leg up most of the way, she hadn't been able to muster the energy to heal it all the way. It throbbed in time with her heart as she continued to go up, floor by floor. When she finally burst through the door and onto the roof her heart soared. Cass was just about to start parkoring across the city when her path was blocked by a tall stranger. His attire was simple; a black leather jacket, some jeans, and biking boots. His eyes were almost the same shade hers currently were, and his hair was more of a natural red-orange color. He held up a hand in a placating manner.

"I don't want to hurt you Cass." How did he know her name? Said girl was too highly strung to realize that he called her Cass, not Ghost. He wasn't after the assassin, he was after the girl. She quickly calculated different ways she could get around this. This stranger had no weapons that she could see. His only obvious advantages were his size and the fact that he was blocking the only path. Both which Cass could work in her favor. He could have weapons stashed somewhere on his person but Cass would also have the element of surprise. Still, Cass backed up to see how far up Mis and Trav were. (If it was the real Mis and Trav.) She frowned. They were close enough that she couldn't get back down but they didn't seem to be coming up the last floor. She wasn't sure why that was but one should never look a gift horse in the mouth. The Meta walked back to the middle of the roof and pulled off her gloves and jacket, leaving her in only a dark blue tank top, black skinny jeans, and her trusty combat boots. She shoved the gloves in her pocket. One never knew when such things would be needed. Without any prior warning she charged forwards with an attack directed at the stranger. She doesn't have time to test the waters like she normally would. Ghost lashes out with a simple roundhouse kick to his side. Blue eyes blocks it easily but makes no move to retaliate. G uses that to her advantage and quickly follows up with a simple punch and a low kick. Though he blocks the attacks, she can see him getting agitated. Ghost continues her assault with several jabs and kicks. Finally, she manages to get a lucky shot in across the right side of his face. She can see the anger becoming uncontrollable now. She can see when he finally gives in and makes a move to punch back. Ghost is on defense for several seconds before he throws a sloppy punch and she quickly moves onto the offensive again. She grabs his arm close to the shoulder and uses her small stature to launch her body up towards his neck. G wraps her legs around and then goes limp. Suddenly overbalanced, Blue eyes crashes to the ground while she rolls away gracefully. He's out before he can get up again. That's when Mis and Travis crash through the door. They must have gotten bored of waiting.

"Cass wait!" Travis calls out. She pauses for half a second before deciding that there's no way Travis would leave the current job in order to chase her through a mall and over rooftops. Ghost takes off. Neither Artemis nor Fake Travis follow her. She decides that Japan would be nice this time of year, so that's where she's set on going.

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AN: And there's the end of Chapter 7. If anyone can think of some creative chapter titles, let me know! I really don't like the plain old "Chapter x" format. So I realized that Cass/Ghost might be a little OOC (Which is hard to do since she's my OC...) but my theory is that she's still suffering from a head wound/damage. She's not thinking entirely straight. Hope you enjoyed this chapter even with all its flaws!

Thank you all for your follows, favorites, and reviews!