Author's Note: Okay I admit it was a little mean to leave you guys hanging like that :) I was just feeling so evil haha. Here's the next chapter. Oh and thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reviewed and also to those anon reviewers that I couldn't pm. Also, I am looking for a beta-reader—yes after 20 chapters haha—so if any of you would be interested, please message me :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

Chapter Twenty: Grace Under Fire

Ares.

Remy struggled to keep the panicked look off of her face as he disappeared into the crowd. She was definitely screwed.

On the one hand, Remy couldn't very well say that she had seen a Shadows operative in the crowd because, well, Ares hadn't been on the list of known Shadows operatives. There would be too many questions from her teammates, and that was definitely not good.

On the other hand, neither Remy nor Artemis had received any instruction from Ra's al Ghul concerning this mission. Were they supposed to help Ares and whoever else was here? Or were they supposed to tangle with them, only to have them escape later on? This was getting to be super confusing, working for both sides.

What was Remy supposed to do?

Warn Artemis, Remy thought, but without alerting the others.

"Artemis," she whispered into the comlink. "I seem to have a small problem on my hands."

"What's up?" Artemis asked, her voice alert. Remy looked around the general vicinity for her, but there were too many people.

"Have you seen someone suspicious inside?" Megan chimed in.

"That dude almost knocked her flat," Wally added in an annoyed voice. "It was slightly suspicious."

"No it was not," Remy ground out, forcing herself to smile for the sake of the people Ferdinand was currently speaking with. "It's a, uh, lady problem. Yeah a lady problem."

Remy could hear Wally groan behind her and she rolled her eyes as Robin made an ew sound under his breath.

"I'll meet you outside the bathroom across from the stage," Artemis told her.

Remy turned to Ferdinand once the elderly couple he'd been chatting with disappeared. "Ferdinand, you'll have to excuse me for a moment, I need to go freshen up in the Ladies room."

Ferdinand raised an eyebrow. "But of course. I will meet you—" he put a hand on her shoulder and pointed toward the stage "—just beside the stage in five minutes. I will take Wallace with me."

Wally blanched at being called by his full name, but nevertheless followed the Prince as they made their way through the throngs of people. Remy turned on her heel, immediately heading for the restroom.

Artemis acknowledged her with a nod and headed into the restroom before her. Remy waited roughly twenty seconds before following.

"Hey, just fyi, I can't see either of you while you're in there," Robin said.

"I think we'll be fine," Remy said derisively, entering into the powder room.

Artemis held out her purse to her. "Here you go."

Remy shook her head, gesturing to the large bathroom stall. "Thanks, Artemis." She had to make sure that they kept their conversation sounding normal on the surface. Wouldn't want Robin getting suspicious.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, watching as Remy latched the stall door behind them. "No problem. How's it going out there?"

"Fine," Remy said, opening her own clutch. "The Prince is a little too friendly if you ask me." She pulled out a tube of red lipstick, uncapping it.

"You're telling me," Wally grumbled.

"Jealous Baywatch?" Artemis grinned, watching as Remy started to write something on the bathroom wall.

Remy had just written out the A and an r when Remy noticed, the ventilation grate above them slid open and a woman jumped down onto the floor.

Cheshire.

She was without her mask, and dressed in formal wear, but it was definitely her.

Artemis' mouth was open in a silent gasp and she was about to say something when Cheshire held a finger to her lips, grinning like a madwoman.

"No, I'm just saying it's kind of awkward being the third wheel here," Wally grumbled.

Remy stopped, holding the lipstick in her hand, watching as Cheshire pulled something out from under her dress. A written note.

"Sure you aren't," Artemis drawled, taking the letter from Cheshire. "I'm sure Remy will let you grab her ass someday. She's easy like that."

"Oh shut it," Remy snapped, her voice not really behind it. "Let's just get out of here." Cheshire smiled one last time and slithered out the door with a dainty wave and a wink.

"Good idea," Robin said. "The Prince is going to make a speech any second now. You need to be on that stage with him Remy."

"Awesome," she muttered, before finishing her writing on the wall. Ares bumped into me. And now Cheshire showed up. What do we do?

Act normal, Artemis wrote back, pointing at the letter.

Remy nodded, secretly thinking that this would be a terrible idea, but nevertheless unlatched the bathroom stall as Artemis wiped the red lipstick off the wall. Remy handed the lipstick to Artemis and decide she would be the one to exit first this time.

"Welcome my friends!" Prince Ferdinand bellowed, his arms held out wide. "We have gathered here today to celebrate our wonderful country."

"The perimeter has been quiet for the past hour," Kaldur chimed in. "I think it is safe to say that no one is getting into the hotel now. It would— wait a moment. I think I see something. No—yes—I will investigate myself, your team should stay here."

There was silence on the comlink followed by a short burst of static

"Everything good?" Robin asked. "Kaldur? Kaldur, are you there?"

"I cannot thank you enough for the support and patriotism you all have shown each and every day," the Prince continued. Remy scanned the crowded hotel for any signs of movement. Behind her, Wally was speaking into his comlink.

"He's gone," Robin said flatly.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Wally asked.

"He disappeared off the video feed," Robin said, the sound of keys clicking in the background. "Miss M, think you can get away to check it out?"

There was no answer.

"Megan?" Wally said.

"Megan and Kaldur dropped off grid?" Artemis chimed in.

"Tonight, I have put together the best celebration money can buy. Because if there's anything our people know, it is how to party," Ferdinand joked, inciting laughter and cheers within the crowd.

Remy willed herself to stay calm as Robin started typing away furiously.

"Conner too," Robin muttered. "Wally, do you guys see them?"

"Negative Rob," Wally answered. Remy scanned the crown herself, keeping the smile plastered on her face.

"Whoa," the boy wonder exclaimed. "This is not good, I repeat this is—"

Robin didn't answer as the distinct sound of a door being slammed filtered through the ear piece. The sounds of fighting could be heard in the background, it was unmistakable.

A gasp sounded in Remy's ear and then Robin's voice filtered through. "Some thugs, definitely Shadows just hit up my hotel room. We've been compromised."

Remy looked up towards the balcony, frantically searching for either Cheshire or Ares. Whatever was going down had to be—

A loud explosion and a flurry of lights appeared outside the hotel. The crowd turned in awe at the sight of fireworks.

"I didn't plan for that to happen," Ferdinand said to Remy through gritted teeth. "Forgive me, my people, I am taking far too much of your time. Let's party!"

Wally took a few steps closer to the prince, warily watching for anyone that was trying to make a move. Remy caught sight of Cheshire's head as she popped up behind the balcony.

A resounding bang startled the crowd and Remy reacted immediately, leaping in front of the prince. The sounds of panic could be heard as Remy felt a small metal bullet enter into her right shoulder.

Within seconds, the crowd was in absolute panic and Wally was beside the prince shielding him from any potential shots. He yelled to Remy if she was alright.

Remy scrambled to her feet, ripping off her high heels. "Robin, where the hell is security?" Remy turned to Wally. "Come on! We have to—" another gunshot was fired in their general vicinity and the three of them ducked.

"You're not really British?" Ferdinand asked, outraged, obviously noticing her dropped accent.

Remy ignored him.

There was a crackling of static in Remy's ear, but Robin didn't answer.

"Someone must be messing with the signal," Wally said, pushing the frightened prince off the stage. Here in the crowd, they would have a better chance of avoiding the gun shots that were now raining down upon them.

Everyone in the hotel was scrambling like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to get to the exit first, but there were just too many people. As a group of drunk girls stumbled passed them, Remy noticed once man, standing completely still in the midst of all the chaos.

Ares.

"Can you run with him?" Remy asked.

"Well yeah but—" Wally was cut off as he ducked out of the way of another bullet. "What are you going to do? Your shoulder—"

"Is fine," Remy lied, feeling the offending appendage throb as she said so. "Bullet went straight through. Now go. Lock yourself in the stairwell and I'll come and find you. Make sure you aren't seen."

With that, Remy turned to face Ares, a scowl on her face. He merely smirked at her and beckoned her with two fingers.

Remy charged at him, throwing a flurry of punches towards his face, despite the fact that her shoulder was screaming in protest. Ares was able to easily pin her to the ground.

"Let's make this look a little more challenging, yeah?" he smirked.

"Get off of me," Remy grunted, kicking her feet out from under herself. Ares stumbled backwards and off of her at the force of her kick.

Remy blocked Ares' attacks as he advanced on her, sidestepping his kicks and blocking his punches. Remy managed to get a few hits in, but it was difficult to really make any sort of impact with her shoulder the way that it was.

It was then that Remy remembered the gun. Duh, she thought stupidly.

"Sorry about this," Remy told him, reaching for the weapon.

"About what?" Ares asked confused.

Remy pulled it out, cocked it and promptly shot Ares in the foot. "That." She pulled back her left fist and delivered a strong uppercut to Ares' jaw, knocking him flat on his back, leaving Remy free to find Wally and the Ferdinand.

A lot of the people had cleared out, but it was still pretty crowded. And Remy hadn't seen Cheshire or any of her teammates, for that matter, for a long time. Not even Artemis had made an appearance.

As Remy pulled open the door to the stairwell, Remy sincerely hoped that Wally would be there. With everyone suddenly disappearing that night, her fear was not unfounded.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she caught sight of Wally, the Prince and another man she recognized as being part of his security team.

"I just took down a Shadows member," Remy coughed slightly. "Nobody that was on the rap sheets. Cheshire is here though."

"You're sure?" Wally asked, slipping his goggles off.

"No Wally, I've been bullshitting you this whole time and any moment now Robin and the rest of the team are going to jump out and yell 'Gotcha!'" Remy snapped.

From his spot on the stairwell floor, the Ferdinand jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Geez Louise," Wally whistled. "You are not very nice when you're injured. And where'd you get the gun?"

"He came at me with it, I wrestled it away and I shot him in the foot, relax." Remy turned to the other security guard. "Your name and what you do."

"I'm Atkins," the burly man answered. "I've been corresponding with your leader up in the hotel room all night and relaying the orders to my men. I've called for backup and a chopper is inbound to evacuate the Prince."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Wally asked, cracking his knuckles. "Let's get to the roof."

"Hold up," Remy said, grabbing Wally by the collar. "We're taking the elevator. If someone intercepts us on our way up the stairs, we're done for."

"We have to go out there again?" Ferdinand squeaked.

"Come on man," Wally groaned. "Grow a pair!"

"Excuse me?" If possible, the tone of his voice got even higher. He looked at Remy for help. "How are you so calm about all of this?"

"It's called grace under fire," Remy smirked, turning to face Wally and Atkins. "Cover Ferdinand. I'll go first."

"But you're shoulder—" Wally insisted.

"Did not stop me from kicking that guy's ass five minutes ago," Remy finished, her teeth gritted.

Before anyone could argue with her, Remy pushed the door open, her eyes scanning for anyone that was approaching them. It wasn't difficult, considering there were only a few hundred people left in the hotel, compared to the few thousand that had been there before.

The four of them made a break for the elevator. Once inside, Remy pressed the button for the fiftieth floor and slid down onto her butt as the elevator started upwards. Remy breathed out, wincing as her shoulder throbbed.

"Dude, you are so not okay," Wally said, kneeling down next to her.

"You got clipped a couple of times," Remy nodded. "Don't see you complaining."

Wally rolled his eyes. "Just grazing shots. I move too quickly to actually get hit. 'Sides, I heal at a faster rate. Check it out."

Remy glanced at Wally's arms, and she could see the rips in his suit where bullets had grazed. There were angry red welts directly underneath, but other than that, nothing.

"Lucky son of a bitch," Remy muttered, throwing a scathing glance at the blubbering prince. Remy frankly couldn't' understand how such a confident guy had been reduced to this in the face of a tiny bit of danger.

Okay, so it was a lot of danger. And Remy had become accustomed to it. And Ferdinand probably never had; he was just a playboy prince.

Then again…He hadn't even been touched yet. And with the way things were going, Remy was sure that Ares and Cheshire were not the only two members of the Shadows on the ground. There had to be more of them in order to pull something like this off.

"Here." Wally tore off the bottom end of his suit jacket and handed it to her. Remy stuffed it against her bleeding shoulder, nodding her thanks.

Without warning, the elevator screeched to a stop and their upward descent was halted.

Remy groaned as the emergency backup lights went on.

"I knew this was too easy."