Salutations faithful readers, thank you for all of the awesome reviews. I enjoyed reading all of them. I'm sorry I've been slowing down on updating, I have had loads of homework and hockey, and so I'm pretty busy. I'm also sorry about this chapter it's mostly just a filler chapter, but lots of action is promised in the future. I hope you like it.

Also I don't own young justice or Dc comics, b/c if I did there would be way more episodes. But sadly I'm just gonna have to stick with fan fiction instead. Enjoy.

Spitting Image

Chapter 3

Abby was heading west, but she didn't really care where she was going as long as it was away from Gotham and her lying overbearing mother. She was speeding down a highway, wild and free. Sure she loved her mother, but sometimes she couldn't stand her. Her mom was always so uptight and overprotective, she always seemed like she was hiding from something. That annoyed Abby, all she asked for the truth but her mother was as stubborn as she was and wouldn't tell.

The redheaded speedster was starting slow down. Her stomach was rumbling, she needed to eat something soon. Luckily for the teen there was a gas station down the road. She stopped there to catch her breath and fill her bottomless pit of a stomach. After scarfing down two bags of chips, four candy bars, five protein bars and four bottles of water; Abby grabbed a map. She was sure that she didn't want to go home for a few days, she really needed a break from it all. Then she had a fabulous idea.

"I need a vacation!"

Abby thought it was a brilliant idea, she could get away from her mother and relax at the same time. She had never really gone on a vacation before. Her mom always worked, and money was usually tight. Abby had once tried to convince her mom to take her to the new beach resort in Happy Harbor, but when she showed her mother the brochure her mom flipped out. After that, vacations, especially beach vacations, were beyond debate.

Abby looked over the map, she really didn't want to visit any big cities; that would just remind her of home. She looked to the Midwest section of the map, "Maybe there's something cool to see here." She thought.

Sure enough there was, the teen looked at the little dot that was labeled Mt. Rushmore. She had seen pictures of the monument, but had always wanted to see it in real life. Also the area around there was supposed to be pretty and clean. The idea of breathing pollution free air was exciting. Abby hated the air quality in Gotham, it was like constantly breathing smog.

With her "vacation" plans made, the speedster continued west. About an hour later she started to tire. Abby found the nearest "middle of nowhere" town and headed to the local motel.

There was a wrinkled lady at the reception desk, she looked surprised when Abby walked through old rickety doors. There was no question that the place was old, but the teen liked it. The old building had a homey rustic feel that made her feel safe.

"Can I have a room please?" she asked shyly

"Sure thing, hon. It will be fifteen dollars."

Abby was kind of happy she brought more than the twenty dollars in her pocket. The woman smiled sweetly when she handed over the proper amount. The teen was then led down a hall to a small room. It was nicer than she expected. Once the lady was gone the exausted speedster climbed into the quilt covered bed, she was so tired she fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Artemis was a train wreck; she was quickly pacing deliberating on what she was going to do. She had already called Abby's phone and found it on the counter. She had called all of Abby's friends and interrogated them over the phone to make sure her daughter wasn't hiding there. A pile of dark green fabric caught the archer's eagle eye. Before she knew it, she was pulling on the dark emerald uniform. It felt a little tight, but comfortable enough that she could manage.

"Please don't be dead was the only thing she could mutter as she raced through the night to the Gotham slums. The area was very famillar to the archer, she spent most of her tramatic childhood roaming the alleys for training. Artemis finally found the tracer, but just the tracer; no Abby in sight.

"Dammnit." She cursed under her breath. The archer knew her daughter was more than capable of disappearing without a trace. (Unlike her father Abby had her mother's stealth skills) Even Batman would have a hard time finding the speedster now.

Batman

"Maybe I need to get help."

She contemplated calling the league (they'd be so happy to see her) but decided not to, it least not yet. She had on more option.

Zatanna.

Hopefully the magician could help her, it least she knew about Abby.

Flashback

Artemis remembers the day Zatanna found out about her daughter like it was yesterday. Abby was six years old then. They were doing a little Christmas shopping in downtown Gotham before going to the park. She knew Zatanna was in town for her new magic show, but the former archer never expected running into her. (Literally) Artemis was heading towards a park bench to watch her daughter play in the snow when she collided with the magician. Shock hit her like a bullet when she got up and brushed herself off and she saw whom she ran into. The archer tried to make a quick escape before Zatanna realized who she was. Too late. As she turned around she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Artemis is that you?"

The blonde turned around to meet her best friend's surprised expression. She had really missed her old friends, but she had new priorities (more like priority) now. The archer really wanted to catch up with her friend, but she knew she couldn't. All She needed to do was avoid Zatanna before the magician found out of her priority. Her snarky inner teenager was screaming," I knew it, I knew it. I so told you moving to China would have been a good idea, but noooo…" She tuned out her past self, put on a bright smile before she turned around to greet her old friend.

"Yeah, it's me…" she started reluctantly but was quickly pulled into a tight hug before she could finish

Before she knew it, Artemis was somehow coerced into sitting down on the bench with Zatanna so they could catch up. She glanced around the park to see her daughter happily occupied by the snowman she was creating. The archer tried hinting to her babbling that she needed to go but with no avail. She really didn't want to get up and leave, she already left once; she wasn't going to again.

"… So what about you?" the magician asked, Artemis realized she wasn't paying attention.

"What have you been up to Artemis?" she asked again.

"Well I… um… got a job." She replied blankly she had no idea what to tell Zatanna.

"Artemis." Her friend said as she stared at her with her cyan eyes, she wasn't smiling anymore.

"What have you really been up to for the last seven years? Why did you leave?" Zatannna looked like she was about to cry.

"I had personal reasons." The archer replied softly.

"What kind of personal reasons?" the magician questioned.

Then couincidently, as of right of que, a shrill cry erupted from the park. Artemis's mother's instinct kicked in as she turned to see a redheaded wailing six-year-old running towards her. The archer tried to calm her hysterical child.

"Sweetie, what happened?" she said soothingly.

"Th-that boy over there kicked me in the face." The child sobbed

"Why did he kick you in the face?"

"H-he hit me because I punched him." Artemis felt proud of her daughter; she suppressed a smirk as she continued soothing her daughter.

"Why did you punch the boy?"

"B-b-because he killed my snowman." She wailed

"Hey Abby wanna hear a secret?" the archer cooed. The little redhead soon forgot about her snowman and anxiously listened to her mother's mischievous whispers.

"Got it?" Artemis asked Abby after revealing her "harmless" plan of revenge. Her daughter nodded and swiftly headed to back into the park to go look for the boy and teach him a lesson.

Just because her daughter looked like her father, didn't mean she necessarily inherited his personality. The little girl had her father's looks and her mother's "charming" personality.

"Sooooo, personal reasons…" Began Zatanna after Abby was out of sight.

Artemis was surprised that her best friend wasn't mad. She was sure that if any of her friends found out they would be furious.

"Yeah.." was all the blonde could say. She was so ashamed of herself she couldn't look at her friend; instead her steel gray eyes were planted on the ground.

"So, whose the father?"

Artemis remained silent. Zatanna saw Abby in the park giving the boy a snow wedgie. She kept staring at the kid; there was something so familiar about her but the magician couldn't put her finger on it. The little girl had fiery red hair and freckles. Then Zatanna saw her eyes, her bright emerald green eyes.

"Oh My God." She gasped, she couldn't believe it. She looked back over to Abby in the snow. "How didn't I see this before, she looks exactly like him" she thought.

She looked back over to her blonde friend. She was caught by her pleading expression.

"Zee, he can't know, he can never know." Artemis pleaded.

"Shouldn't he it least know about her?" Zatanna started, but she was cut off by Artemis's dark glare that was scarier than the Batglare.

"No." the archer said firmly.

Zatanna thought about her friend would do to her if she said no. Artemis was one of her best friends (well before she disappeared) but she was also one of the few people that scared her more than Batman when they got angry (Actually the only person that scared her more than an angry Batman or Artemis is her father).

"Fine." She said reluctantly. "But only if you keep in contact with me, I don't want to lose my best friend again." She said with a small smile, she felt the weight of guilt for not telling them, but she had to keep her promise with her best friend, for her and Abby's sake.

"Well I guess I should get going now" The archer replied, breaking the awkward silence.

"Wait Arty, not yet." Zatanna's small smile got wider as she had an idea. "Your daughter can't leave without meeting her Aunt Zee."

Artemis caught on to what the brunette was saying, she gave her a small smile before calling the little redhead over to her.

"Abby, there's someone I'd like you to meet." The small child hid shyly behind her mother as she came face to face with Zatanna.

"Hi, Abby. My name is Zatanna, but you can call me Aunt Zee."

Suddenly the child's face lit up with delight as she pranced around her mother celebrating getting an "Aunt". The two women chuckled and said their farewell's before they parted.

Zatanna took a mental picture of her friend and her new "niece" walking away hand and hand, talking excitedly.

Present, 2028

Artemis burst through her front door and frantically looked around for Abby. Her heart was heavy, Abby wasn't home yet, and it had been over five hours since she left. Something was wrong.

The archer was looking through her dark house for her cell phone so she could call Zatanna. She heard a shuffle in the kitchen. Her old instincts kicked in as she knocked and arrow and pointed it at the shadowy abyss. She knew it wasn't Abby, Abby didn't lurk in the shadows; she hated the dark. Artemis had a heart attack when the figure stepped into the light.

"Oooh look, its my little sis, mother of the year." Mocked the figure as she walked into the light.

Once Artemis recovered from her mini heart attack, her blood started to boil with fury.

Can this day get any worse?

"Jade Get the Hell Out of My House!" She shouted

"Nice to see you too, sis." Cheshire replied, unmoved.

"Jade I don't have time this, why are you here." The archer spat, venom filled her voice.

Cheshire gasped, pretending to be hurt. "Why is there anything wrong with checking on my sister and niece every once in awhile?"

"First, You haven't surfaced in the past five years. Second, you don't visit family. You ditch them in a home with an abusive excuse for a father, and then try to kill them. We may be related by blood, Jade, but you are not my sister. You never were. As far as I'm concerned the only family I have is Abby and Mom." Artemis retorted, her voice was full of disgust.

Jade actually looked genuinely hurt for a moment before her evil grin returned to her face. "Well it was nice talking to you sis. Tell the twerp I say hi, when you get the chance." Before Artemis had a chance to respond, Cheshire was gone. Her wicked cackle echoed in the wind.

The blonde archer finally lowered her bow. She was at a loss, her daughter was missing, her sister was back, and she had a feeling that she was being forced out of retirement.

Jade's last words replayed in her head.

"Oh no, They have her!"

The Shadows

Hot tears streamed down her olive skin, she couldn't believe it, and She couldn't accept it. Even Artemis could not face the ugly truth revealed in front of her. Her hands shook violently as she dialed Zatanna.

"Ring"

"I hate waiting." The archer grumbled.

"Ring"

"God, I hate waiting."

"Ring"

"C'mon Zee, Pick up!"

"Ring"

"Click"

Finally

"H-Hello, Artemis? It's four in the morning, What do you need." Zatanna's groggy voice answered.

"Zee, its an emergency. Get over here NOW!" the archer's voice was creaky and high pitched.

Before Zatanna could respond she hung up. The magician was awake now. She could tell something was very wrong. Artemis sounded like she was crying.

Artemis never cried. Ever.

Zatanna remembered when the archer was kidnapped by her father. He broke almost every bone in her body, tried to set her on fire and electrocuted her for hours. Artemis didn't cry, she didn't even show fear. She spat blood in his face every chance she had. She even tried to walk away afterwards with two broken legs. The blonde didn't shed a single tear, until now Zatanna thought it was impossible for Artemis to cry.

I took only seconds for the magician to travel from her apartment in New York to Artemis's house in Gotham.

"Esuoh s'simetra ot tropelet!" She chanted as she got pulled into a vortex bound for Gotham.

Zatanna arrived in the archer's living room seconds later. She looked over in horror to see Artemis, The Artemis, sobbing on the couch.

"What happened Artemis, tell me now!"

"T-The S-shad-dows, T-hey h-ave her."

Thanks for all of the reviews. I made this chapter extra long to make up for my future not-updating, Ill try, but no promises. I don't think this chapter is my best work but it's all I got right now and if I type any more I swear my hands are going to fall off. If I don't update by Friday I give you all permission to yell at me for my laziness. I know this chapter isn't the best, but there will be some fighting action next chapter and I'm adding bunches of new characters, I bet no one can guess all of them, Hint there are it least 20 of them.