Author's Note: Here we goo. Oh and by the way, next week Young Justice returns next week! How excited is everyone? :D Anyways, the basis of part two of this story is being introduced, so make sure you pay attention :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Who We Are

Detective Conners held the crime scene tape up for Remy and allowed her to step through first.

She glanced briefly around her mother's room, trying to ignore the fact that her teammates were burning holes in the back of her head.

"Could you guys wait outside?" she asked, unable to focus with so many eyes on her. "Except Artemis. She can stay."

Artemis raised an eyebrow but made a move to enter her mother's room. Detective Conners stopped her.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't, miss," he told her.

"I'd prefer if she did," Remy said, nodding to him. Conners shrugged and held up the tape so that Artemis could step through.

"Remy, we—" M'gann started.

"Please," Remy said quietly, cutting her off. "Just go outside."

The rest of her teammates pegged her with looks of confusion, before obliging. Remy sighed, glad that they were gone.

Focusing back in on the room, Remy immediately noticed the obvious disarray. Her mother's room had held few things, but the small number of knick knacks and photo frames that had adorned the shelves and desktop had been thrown about the room.

Remy searched the room for the chalk outline of where her mother's body had been, but it was noticeably absent. Instead, Remy noticed the draperies were tied in some sort of a noose.

"My mother hung herself?" Remy asked thickly. Beside her, Artemis shifted awkwardly.

"Essentially, yes," Conners said. "Nurse Kelly found her like this when she came to check up on your mother before bed. There were also numerous lacerations to her arms and legs—Miss Vanderbilt, are you certain you want to hear all this? It can't be easy—"

"I'd like to know," Remy told him curtly.

Conners nodded. "We've already established the lacerations were made by a kitchen knife. We were in the process of removing the draperies when HQ called to tell me you were coming down. I had the room cleared for that."

Remy mulled this over, forcing her mind to think of her mother as just another stranger. She had to, in order to get to the bottom of this.

"My mother couldn't have hung herself, Detective," Remy told him. "Or cut herself for that matter. She was catatonic. She could barely feed herself."

Detective Conners nodded. "We're aware. We've sent the body to the labs already for DNA testing and a toxicology report."

Remy placed her hands in the pockets of her jacket and looked around the room thoughtfully. "Could someone have drugged my mother and staged it to look like a suicide?"

Remy considered her own words for a moment. Had the Shadows done this to punish her for pulling that stunt with Cheshire? It didn't seem like one of their jobs. Had the Shadows been behind this, Remy was certain that her mother would have just disappeared off the face of the earth. There would have been no cops, no ambulances, nothing. Certainly no bravado.

"Would someone have reason to do that?" Detective Conners asked carefully.

"Are you asking me if my mother had any enemies?" Remy asked. "The answer is no. My mother hasn't even had any visitors since she's been in here."

"That's not entirely true, Miss Vanderbilt," Conners offered. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a notepad. "According to the asylum's records your mother had been receiving visits regularly from a Mr. Erik van der Rhys. Does that name mean anything to you?"

"No," Remy thought puzzled. Her mother's nurse hadn't mentioned any visitors, even when Remy had asked.

"Our background checks revealed nothing out of the ordinary," Conners shrugged. "No criminal record, no ties to anything unsavory. He lives in Denmark, however, so we couldn't bring him here even if we wanted to question him."

Remy filed this information away for later. "Well, if he doesn't have a criminal record then chances are he has nothing to do with this," she sighed, disappointed.

Stay focused Remy, she told herself. "Is there anything else I should know? Any leads?"

"Not at this moment," Detective Conners informed her.

"When will the testing be done?" Remy asked. "I should probably start making funeral arrangements…"

"We should have the results back within the week. Once that's finished, the remains will be released to you."

"Then I think I'm finished here," Remy said, mentally saying goodbye to this room forever. She hadn't liked it in the first place, but under these circumstances she certainly wasn't wanting to say goodbye.

"We'll be sure to keep you notified if anything changes," Conners told her. He pulled out his card and handed it to Remy. "Call me if you have you any questions."

Remy nodded, casting a cursory glance over the room once more, when something on the desk caught her eye. A copy of The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Remy was certain that hadn't been there before. Her mother hadn't owned any books.

Remy walked over to the desk and pointed to the book. She bit her lip and glanced at Detective Conners. "If it isn't too much trouble, this book was one of my mother's favorites…"

"It's technically illegal," Conners started, "but I'm not much of a stickler. If it has sentimental value—"

"It does," Remy assured him.

"—then feel free to take it."

Remy thanked him, grabbing the book off of the table. She caught Artemis' eye and started for the door. "We should get going. I have a lot to think about."

Once outside, Artemis stopped Remy before they reached the large van the team had taken to get to the asylum.

"Look, if you need a place to stay while the cops work things out, you're more than welcome to stay with my mom and I. We've got a dumpy apartment in the Narrows but—"

"That would be fine," Remy said curtly. "Thanks."

Artemis seemed surprised that she had accepted, but said nothing as they reached the rest of the team.

"What did they say, if you do not mind my curiosity?" Kaldur asked, holding open the van door for Remy and Artemis. Everyone else was already piled in the seats of the van.

"My mother was murdered and someone tried to make it looked like suicide," Remy informed them, climbing into the last row of seats, Artemis behind her.

"That's awful!" Miss Martian exclaimed over the sound of Kaldur shutting the van door. He walked to the other side of the van and slid into the driver's seat, though he didn't start the van. "I am so sorry, Remy, really."

"Thanks for the thought," Remy said, absently running her hands over the cover of the book in her hands. She flipped open the cover, aware that Artemis and the team were waiting for her to say something more. "Are we leaving?"

Robin guffawed and shared a disbelieving look with Wally behind his sunglasses. Kaldur sighed and started the car, looking over his shoulder as he backed out.

"What?" Remy asked, looking up. "Oh, it'd be great if you could drop me at Artemis'. I have some business in Gotham."

Remy looked down at the inside of the cover and scanned the writing on the page. Sets of numbers—looking like a set of locker combinations, really—started at the top and went down to about the halfway mark of the page.

Definitely a code for something, Remy thought, discreetly showing the page to Artemis. Artemis' eyes lit up in understanding.

Conner spoke up, tearing Remy's gaze away from the page. "Your mom is dead."

"Very observant, Conner," Remy muttered dryly.

"Why aren't you crying?" he asked.

Remy sighed and leaned her head against the window, ignoring the now awkward atmosphere in the car. She honestly didn't feel like talking about it, crying about it, or anything really. She just wanted peace. And to be able to find out who did tis.

There would be time for crying later. Preferably when she was alone and there was no one within a two mile radius that knew her. She had already broken down in front of Red Arrow and Batman of all people.

"He's right. You're being awfully cavalier about this," Wally commented, breaking the silence.

"Shut it, Wall-man," Artemis barked.

"Its fine, Artemis," Remy said flatly. To Wally she asked, "Would you prefer it if I broke down sobbing?"

"Well I—uh—not exactly—you see—" Wally fumbled for something to say.

"I just need time," Remy said quietly. "If you all could respect that, then I would appreciate it."

Unspoken agreement rippled through the team and they all were silent as Kaldur drove them to the Gotham Narrows.

Finally. Remy breathed a sigh of relief as Kaldur pulled up in front of Artemis' apartment complex.

"Please, Remy, once you have finished your business here in Gotham," Kaldur said, "return to Mount Justice."

"I'll call you guys," Remy lied, proceeding to exit the van, her bags from Mount Justice in hand.

She and Artemis started towards the front door of the complex, quickly making their way up the steps. Artemis reached for a key in her pocket and unlocked the door as Wally called out to them to wait.

Remy turned and watched as Wally gestured for Kaldur to go ahead and get back to Mount Justice.

"I'll just run and meet you guys," he said before Kaldur sped off.

"Go home, Wally," Artemis snapped.

Wally shook his head, and Remy was immediately struck by his grim expression. He was normally so cheerful, but ever since Remy had delivered the news about her mother, he had been deadly serious. "I need to talk to Remy."

"Wally just—"

"Its fine Artemis," Remy waved her off, wondering at what Wally had to say. "If you don't mind waiting for me inside…"

"Fine," Artemis groaned. "I'll just ask mom to order some takeout." With that, the blonde archer disappeared into the building, allowing the door to close behind her.

Remy turned to Wally and folded her arms. He stared at her but didn't say anything.

"Well?" Remy asked.

"Right," Wally said. He walked over to her and steered her over to the steps. "I just—are you okay?"

"I really do hate the question. I am doing fine," Remy answered.

Wally rolled his eyes. "Look, I know people have different methods of coping with loss—"

Remy sighed. She knew where this was going.

"—but you're like a freaking robot! All the time! And it's not normal," Wally said, frustrated. "You're not snapping at me or anyone else, you're actually sort of nice and it's—"

Remy held up a hand to stop him. "Look Wally, I appreciate the concern—"

Wally pointed at her. "See that's what I mean! The Remy I know would never say something like that."

Remy mentally sighed.

She was definitely upset about her mother's passing, but she couldn't allow herself to become emotional. The police were obviously never going to solve her mother's murder, so it was up to Remy to do it. If she got emotional over this, she'd just screw it up. For now, her feelings about her mother would have to be pushed to the back of her mind.

Remy scowled at him. "I may be a massive bitch, but I'm not unreasonable Wally. The last of my family is now dead and frankly, I don't have the energy to be a hard person right now."

Wally looked away, seeming a bit ashamed. "I don't think you're a bitch. I mean sometimes you are, yeah, but maybe you're—I don't know—a turtle that needs to come out of its shell of something."

Remy snorted, the first happy sound that had emanated from her since finding out that her mother was dead. She patted him on the shoulder and got to her feet. "You flatter me."

Wally chuckled, getting to his feet as well. "I guess what I'm trying to say is—I think you're pretty cool. Even if you are a shelled turtle."

"A shelled turtle, huh?" Remy raised an eyebrow. Wally merely shrugged. "I'm going to be fine, Wally, trust me. I've dealt with this sort of thing before."

Wally looked disbelieving but did not respond. Instead he reached forward and enveloped Remy in a big bear hug.

Remy stiffened, but didn't push him away. Awkwardly, she patted him on the back, unused to such familiar contact.

"I uh—" Wally broke off, the tips of his ears starting to redden. "My Aunt always says the best cure for a bad day is a hug from someone who cares."

Someone who cares? Remy thought. That's a new one.

"Right," Remy said. "Well you should probably get going. I'm sort of tired and—"

"Right. Yeah. Of course," Wally said quickly, obviously embarrassed. "I'll see you later. Okay, bye."

And before Remy could even utter a goodbye, Wally was gone.

Remy hadn't even taken her shoes off, before Artemis grabbed her by the arm and towed her into the kitchen.

"Mom, this is Remy," she said, gesturing to each of the women. "Remy, meet my mom."

Remy stared at Artemis' mom, immediately struck by the fact that the woman was in a wheelchair. Not to mention that she and Artemis looked nothing alike, save for the almond shaped eyes common among Asian women.

Remy was pretty sure Artemis was ninety nine percent Baby Sportsmaster in the looks department.

Still Artemis' mom smiled at her sweetly and wheeled over to shake Remy's hand. "Paula Crock. It's nice to finally meet you Remy."

Remy raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of me?"

"Mom!"

"Oh yes," Paula snickered, wheeling back to the kitchen counter. "Artemis used to complain about you all the time."

"Did she now?" Remy asked, unsurprised.

"Oh yes," Paula laughed. "In fact she even went so far—"

"Mom," Artemis said pointedly. "Remy is really not in the mood for your stories. She's had a pretty long day."

Mrs. Crock sobered up immediately. "Of course—how rude of me—I am truly sorry for your loss. You are welcome to stay with us as long as you want."

"Thanks," Remy answered automatically.

"I hope Vietnamese food is alright with you. Dinner should be here in about ten minutes," Paula told her gently. "Artemis, why don't you two go get set up in your room. There are extra blankets in the hall closet."

Remy nodded, pointing to the book still in hand. Artemis nodded and the two set off down the hall towards the closet.

"We'll look at it when my mom's asleep," Artemis said, her voice low, as she grabbed a few comforters out of the closet. "She knows about my…extra-curricular activities. But I'd rather not involve her. She's already got enough to worry about."

Later that night, after Mrs. Crock had gone to sleep, Remy and Artemis lay on the floor of the blonde archer's room, the copy of The Once and Future King between them. Artemis' lights were on a timer, so they were forced to use a flashlight to see.

"Do you think the Shadows had anything to do with this?" Artemis asked in a whisper. "You know, cut you off from everyone so that there's nothing standing in the way of your loyalty?"

"You heard what Detective Conners said about my mom's body," Remy replied. "This job was either very sloppy or meant to grab my attention; the Shadows would do neither. Although when they get their hands on me—"

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked.

"Right. You still don't know." Remy blew out a sigh. "This is also sort of the reason I was kicked off the team."

"I thought you were just suspended."

"I may as well be off the team," Remy said glumly. "Anyways, I sort of teamed up with Red Arrow to free Prince Ferdinand."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "After Batman specifically said—"

"Just let me finish," Remy huffed. "I set it up so that Cheshire would think that I made Red Arrow think that we were freeing the Prince based on some debt she owed me. She thought that my plan was to double cross Red Arrow and leave the Prince in her hands.

"Of course, Arrow knew all of this and after he was incarcerated I freed the Prince and blew up the complex to free Arrow. Does that make any sense to you?"

"Vaguely," Artemis muttered. "Continue."

"Well, as luck would have it, our fearless leader the Batman showed up," Remy shrugged. "To say he was ticked would be a serious understatement."

"He's probably just mad you got to the Prince first," Artemis snorted.

"Definitely not," Remy shook her head. "I didn't even think about the repercussions of what I'd done. I never notified the Shadows of my, well, triple cross, and even if I had they would have never gone for it. It was my mistake, and a stupid one at that."

Artemis let out a low whistle. "Okay. I see where you're coming from now. The Shadows don't give second chances."

"Exactly," Remy said. "Which is why, when my mom's nurse called, I automatically assumed that the Shadows were punishing me for it. But not even they move that quickly."

Artemis nodded, in silent agreement with Remy. She grabbed the book and opened it to the first page. "And you think that whoever did do this left you a calling card? That doesn't make any sense."

"Which is why I think these people want me to find them. For some twisted reason. Maybe they want me to know that they're after me. Maybe I am the target."

"That's the only angle I could see," Artemis agreed. "And these numbers are obviously code for words in the book."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Remy told her. "Do you have pen and paper? We need to work this out."

Artemis stood and shuffled over to her desk, taking out a yellow legal pad and a fountain pen. Lying back down on the floor, she slid The Once and Future King back to Remy before poising her pen over the paper.

"I'll take down the words," Artemis said.

"Before we start…" Remy shifted a bit in her spot. "I need you to promise me something."

"What is it?" Artemis asked.

"Whatever message these people have left for me… Don't tell anyone. This stays between us?"

"Of course," Artemis answered.

Remy nodded and turned her eyes to the page with the codes, steeling herself mentally for whatever was spelled out in these pages. "First word: Page 146, line 7, word 3. You."

"You," Artemis repeated jotting it down.

"Second word: Page 337, line 14, word 6. Are."

"Are."

"Third word: Page 12, line 2, word 3. Alone."

Remy glanced up as Artemis copied this down. "Seriously?"

"Props for obviousness?" Artemis snorted.

"Whatever," Remy shook her head, laughing harshly. "Continuing on… Word four: Page 56, Line 18, word 7. Now."

"Now."

"Word five: Page—"

"Oh just skip the numbers," Artemis groaned. "I certainly don't need them."

"Fine," Remy said. "Fifth word is you."

"You."

"Sixth word is are."

"Are."

"Next word is chosen."

"Got it," Artemis nodded. "That it?"

"No there's a few more," Remy told her, growing more confused by the minute.

"Next word is the."

"The."

"Game."

"Game," Artemis repeated.

"Next is begins."

"Mhmm," Artemis muttered.

"Then it's now."

"'The game begins now?'" Artemis repeated. She read the entirety of it aloud again. "'You are alone. Now you are chosen. The game begins now.'"

"That's not it," Remy snapped. "There's three more."

Quickly she flipped through the last three codes and strung together the final sentence. "We are Occulta."

The blonde archer scribbled the last part down and handed Remy the slip of paper. The two shared a confused look as they read the paper over once more.

You are alone.

Now you are chosen.

The game begins now.

We are Occulta.