Authors Note: A short chapter unfortunately, but a little bit of someone we all know and love in this one ;) Anyways sorry for those of you who waited for this. Enjoy and as always reviews are very much appreciated!

Chapter Six: Hi There, Neighbor!

Ares was waiting for her when she entered into her hotel room. He was seated at her desk, looking through some files on her laptop.

"Ever heard of privacy?" Remy snapped. He didn't look up. "Did you learn your manners in a barn or something?"

"I hadn't realized you were a Yoga guru," Ares smiled wryly, gesturing to some of her ebooks on the desktop screen.

Remy grimaced and reached for her suitcase, pulling out her nightshirt along with her toothbrush and face soap. She didn't want to deal with Ares right now, she wanted to go to sleep. Her thoughts were spinning with what-ifs and she just wanted to shut off her brain.

"Do you mind?" Remy asked, gesturing towards the door.

"No, go ahead," he said easily, leaning back in the chair.

Remy groaned and walked into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. Ares' footsteps resounded loudly on the cheap flowers as he came to stand outside the bathroom. She pulled off her dress—or what was left of it anyways—and replaced it with her nightshirt. When she got out, Ares was leaning against the bathroom sink.

Remy ignored him and turned on the sink water, slapping some paste on her toothbrush and running it under the sink. She turned to him as she began to scrub her pearly whites.

"I see that you had some help getting back here." Remy shrugged, feigning disinterest. "From Batman."

"So?" she said after rinsing out her mouth.

"I'm assuming he offered you a way out, a way to escape the Shadows," he mused. "A way to finally be the hero you've always wanted to be."

Remy turned to look at Ares. "He did actually. But first of all, I'm not stupid, and second, I'm not interested in playing sidekick to a bunch of egotistical blowhards."

"You have quite the way with words, Remy," Ares snorted, "however, we have an opportunity to take down the League from the inside out if you accept his offer. Serve as a double agent and help the Shadows take down the Justice League. You'll be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams."

Remy raised an eyebrow. "I know where my loyalties lie."

Not a total lie, Remy thought to herself. As long as she didn't say anything to obtrusive, she could make it through this conversation unscathed.

Ares scrutinized her for a moment and Remy knew he was checking for any nervousness in her eyes, shaking of the hands. "Very well."

Remy knew she didn't have anything to worry about. She was as good a liar as you could be.

"He wants to relocate me to Star City," Remy informed Ares.

"Logical," Ares mused. "After all, Green Arrow and Black Canary operate out of the city. They'll be able to keep tabs on you. Which means—"

"Which means you'll have to be careful in contacting me," Remy finished his thought.

Ares nodded and pushed back his hair as Remy shoved her things in the drawer and went to sit on the hotel bed. Hair tie in hand, she started the process of braiding her hair. Ares took a seat across from Remy in the chair next to the computer desk. Absentmindedly, he stroked his chin and the little bit of stubble that graced it.

"This is weird," she said suddenly to Ares. "I'd never even seen Phase's face until he died. And now, you're a brand spanking new contact and I've seen every bit of you."

"Every bit of me?" He smirked.

"Not like that," she backtracked. "It's just odd that you're—"

"Trusting you?" He finished and Remy nodded. "Phase was an imbecile and a jackass. He also thought that he had status in the Shadows. His cockiness is what got him killed, Roulette. You were becoming too great an asset for him to handle."

"Really," Remy said, surveying Ares' expression for any signs of dishonesty. She concluded that he seemed serious.

"That's why I've been assigned as your new contact," Ares informed her standing up and walking over to her. She stood and mirrored his stance. "I won't be requiring weekly check ins. Instead, we'll have a permanent secure line and if you need to meet with me, or vice versa, we'll make it happen."

Remy was thoroughly surprised. The Shadows was releasing their grip on her? Remy couldn't fathom why. She had always been quite verbal about her displeasure at having to use her skills to murder. Perhaps Ares doesn't care, Remy mused to herself.

"Well then, I suppose I'll see you in Star City," Remy said.

"You can count on it," he smirked. He sauntered over towards the door and opened, but paused to turn and glance back at Remy. "We're giving you some freedom here Roulette. I would advise you not to abuse our trust."

With that, he slammed the door, leaving Remy alone in her hotel room.

The transition to Star City had been a fairly simple one for Remy. Ever since the death of her father, she had made it a point to not get too attached to people. It just made leaving so much easier. The only real connections to Jump City she had were at the Yoga studio where she worked.

Remy didn't consider Jenna an actual friend, merely a placeholder.

It had been easy enough to find another job at a studio in Star City that was conveniently located down the street from her apartment complex. Her school files had just been transferred to Franklin Prepatory and she had already gotten her entrance exams finished and out of the way. She had qualms about attending such a pricey school, however she had received a call from Batman just before she'd left Gotham, informing her that her apartment as well as her schooling would be taken care of by the Justice League.

Remy had spent most of her first day in Star City simply walking around and getting the lay of the land. She'd made sure that she knew where all the police stations were as well as the hospitals. She's found the school, stopped by the Yoga Summit and headed for the grocery store just three blocks away.

Now, as she pushed the key into her apartment door, she balanced the bags of groceries in her other arm, hoping that they wouldn't fall. Carefully Remy turned the lock and pocketed her key, reaching for the door knob.

"Here, let me help you with that."

"Ah!" Remy let out a shout of surprise as she dropped her groceries. She heard the sound of one of the soda cans popping open accompanied by the spraying fountain of root beer.

"Sorry about that," the guy who had startled her said. Remy looked up at him, struggling to keep the snarl off of her face. He looked familiar, she realized, although she couldn't exactly recall knowing anyone with flaming red hair like his.

"Don't worry about it," she said gruffly, grabbing the bags by the handles. The red head grabbed a few from her and gestured for her to go first inside the apartment. Remy glanced over her shoulder at him, making sure he wasn't a sexual predator trying to trap her in her apartment or something like that and set the groceries down on her granite kitchen counter.

It was definitely a step up from her old linoleum tile.

"I'm Roy Harper," the redhead said, reaching his hand out to Remy as soon as he had set the groceries down. "I live right across the hall from you."

Remy ignored it and nodded, opening the fridge. Best not to get attached, even early on, she reminded herself. She grabbed the eggs which were thankfully intact and loaded them into the fridge, following with orange juice and some yogurt. This guy seems like a jackass anyways.

"What's yours?" Roy asked, giving her body the twice over and a suggestive wink.

"My what?" Remy raised her eyebrows. "Name?" He nodded. "Remy Vanderbilt. And just to make it clear. I won't sleep with you, I won't date you, and I won't really bother you unless you harass me. Got it?"

Roy looked slightly taken aback at her attitude but then he slowly smiled. "I had a feeling you'd be like this."

"Be like what?" Remy snapped. "You've known me for five seconds and in that time, you've already managed to annoy me. Congratulations."

"Just trying to be neighborly." Roy smirked. "I'm right next door if you need anything."

"Awesome," Remy muttered, rolling her eyes. "I'd invite you to stay for dinner, but well, I'm not interested in being your friend." Remy kicked the refrigerator door closed and glanced towards the door, hoping he'd get the hint.

"Alright," he shrugged, opening up the front door, "well when you're ready to have a taste of this—" he gestured to his body, which Remy had to admit was fairly muscular, "—just let me know."

"Buh-bye," Remy waggled her fingers and plastered on a fake smile. The door slammed shut and she turned back to her counter, thoroughly annoyed.

There was something so familiar about her neighbor's cockiness, something about the way he held himself. Remy searched around her kitchen drawers and found a cutting board and knife. She took a few of the vegetables out of her grocery bags and started chopping at a rapid pace.

He's a nuisance, Remy reminded herself, something to be endured.

Remy secretly wondered how long it would take for Mr. Roy Harper to realize that she was completely uninterested and furthermore, unavailable. Working for the Shadows had been time consuming enough and now she had to work for the Justice League too? Remy knew that she would be busier than ever.

The Batman had arranged for Remy to meet her so-called teammates Friday morning at their headquarters. She didn't even know where it was located, she was just told to meet at Black Canary's apartment to be escorted there. Remy didn't like the idea of being blindly led somewhere by people she didn't personally know, but for now, she would have trust them.

They were helping her break free from the shadows, after all. Remy breathed out calmly before realizing that she had stopped chopping completely and that the carrots were still intact.

She dropped the knife and leaned onto her elbows, taking out the phone that Batman had used to contact her. She dialed the number he had given to her and instructed her to call. After the first few rings a woman picked up.

"Dinah Lance."

"Hi, I was instructed to call this number," Remy said uncertainly. "It's… Roulette."

"Oh!" Her voice was surprised. "I shoulda known you'd call, sister. We've got some ground to cover before you head up to Mount Justice to join the team."

"Right," Remy said. "This is Black Canary isn't it?"

"Better believe it," she said stiffly. "Now, how soon can you head over to my apartment. I need to go over some rules and we've got some work to do concerning your back story."

Rules? Backstory? Remy almost groaned. More lies and secrets, even with the heroes.

"Are you still there? Or are you just going to breathe while I sit around and wait?" Canary demanded.

Remy glanced at the clock on the wall. "I can be there in five."