Author's Note: Final chapter! Then, on the first of November, I will release the first chapter of "Amicable Anarchy." I just really wanted to say thanks to all of you guy who have alerted, favorite and reviewed. I really could not have done it without any of you. A special thanks to , x-butterflykisses-x, and TMNTxMadness for being there from day one really! You guys wrote the most amazing reviews and I wouldn't have been able to finish this without you. Now, without further ado, the finale of No Risk, No Reward.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
Chapter Thirty Two: Awaken
It had taken a total of five minutes before the receptionist from the Van Der Rhys Institute called Remy back wanting to set up an appointment for as soon as possible.
For the first time in a while, everything seemed to be going well. She was about to get to the bottom of the mysterious group Occulta and she was working with Black Canary, an actual member of the Justice League.
"You know, I'll admit I'm actually kind of happy right now," Remy said, her voice thoughtful.
"You're happy?" Dinah raised her eyebrows. "To meet with the man who murdered your mom?"
"No," Remy sighed, lifting up her pant leg to attach a weapons strap. "I just never thought that I would make it here. As a junior member of the Justice League working with Black Canary."
Dinah smiled as Remy reached down to strap her extendable bow staff to her leg. "You've got skills kid, the League takes notice of those things."
Remy blanched. "I'm pretty sure they took notice of my natural affinity for fatally breaking people's necks first."
Dinah's smile faltered a little bit and she came to stand next to Remy. "About that… Remy, I know you think this man murdered your mother—"
"Think?" Remy shook her head, reaching down to her other leg to strap on a knife. "I'm certain."
Dinah opened her mouth to say something, closed it, and then spoke again. "That may very well be true. But I am telling you this as a friend: you cannot kill Dr. Van Der Rhys."
Remy stayed silent, not looking at Dinah.
"Remy, vengeance won't—Remy, look at me," Dinah put a hand on Remy's shoulder, forcing her to look at Dinah. "Killing him will not bring your mother back. And if you do kill him, I can't protect you from the League. I will have no choice but to arrest you, Batman will arrange for you to be held at the Watchtower, and nothing I say will stop that."
Remy swallowed, her tongue feeling thick as Dinah continued.
"The League took a huge risk in taking you on. You may not be of use to us as a double agent anymore, but you are still a valuable member of the team. You can do some good, Remy. Don't screw this up in some twisted push for vengeance."
Remy looked away from Dinah for a moment, astounded by what the older woman had said. No one had ever told Remy anything like that. No one had ever seemed to care that much.
Remy had always been the loner, an emancipated youth with a dead father and an insane mother. No teacher had ever shown an interest in her. None of her 'friends' parents every really cared whether she had a place to live or food to eat.
This feeling was…foreign to her. And after the past few weeks, Remy had to admit that it was nice having friends who cared about her.
She vowed that she would treat the team—and Dinah—infinitely more respectfully when she returned to Mount Justice.
"I—I won't kill him," Remy said after a moment of contemplative silence. "I just want to find out what this group is about and why they have an interest in me. Nothing more."
Dinah smiled softly. "Glad to hear it. Now finish suiting up. It's time to infiltrate."
"I'm in position, had no problem getting into the staff lounge in the lab building." Dinah's voice filtered in through Remy's comlink as she walked through the front door of the Van Der Rhys Institute.
The snarky receptionist was waiting for her and greeted her with a nice fake smile. "Miss Vanderbilt?"
Remy nodded and stopped just next to the reception desk. Behind Remy, a group of bustling employees laughed together as they passed through the outer doors and into the Institute.
"Dr. Van der Rhys has been expecting you," the woman said. "However he's just gone into a meeting. In the meantime, I've been asked to give you a tour of our facilities if you are interested."
"Take the tour," Dinah advised. "I'll head for the meeting rooms upstairs and see if Dr. Van Der Rhys is really there."
"Sounds good," Remy said, in part responding to Dinah. "And you are?"
"Annika," the blonde woman said plainly, scooting out of her chair. "Now if you'll follow me."
Annika teetered on a pair of four inch heels towards the glass doors Remy had seen the other employees pass through. Remy followed Annika closely, looking for any strange behavior as they passed through a room filled with cubicles.
It seemed normal enough to Remy's eyes.
"This is where insurance claims and employee disputes are handled. Just through those doors—" Annika pointed to another collection of glass doors on the opposite side of the room, "—is where our legal counsel meets on a daily basis."
"What exactly is it that you do here?" Remy asked Annika as they headed for an elevator.
"Genetic research mostly," she answered. "The Van Der Rhys institute is one of the foremost medical research institutes in the world. Currently, the doctor claims to be working on a cure for autism."
"They're also known for doing highly illegal human testing," Dinah added. "But that's off the record. Not really talked about in the medical world."
"A noble cause," Remy said blankly.
"The doctor is a very socially conscious man," Annika added, summoning the elevator. "He has a multitude of highly skilled assistants, but he still insists upon doing most of the work himself."
Remy nodded as the elevator doors opened and she and Annika stepped in.
"Miss Vanderbilt," Annika said after a moment of silence. "Would you care to see the labs?"
"Of course," Remy answered, watching carefully as Annika opened up a separate panel under the elevator buttons. She pressed the button B5 and smiled as the elevator began to go down.
"I'm almost to the boardroom, I can hear voices down the hall," Dinah told her. "Confirming—doctor—office is—can't hear—"
Remy flinched as her ear comm clicked off. That was not a good sign; it meant Remy and Dinah had fallen out of the signal range. That meant that wherever Annika was taking her, was far below the surface.
Remy patted her thigh almost imperceptibly, assuring herself that she was armed and that she would be fine.
When Annika and Remy arrived on basement level five, Remy was certain that someone was about to pop out of a hidden compartment and bag her.
Of course, that didn't happen. Annika merely showed her where the researchers were working and explained the cutting edge technology the Institute was known for.
After that, they were headed back up to the fifth floor (above ground) to wait for Dr. Van Der Rhys.
Gradually Dinah's signal came back and Remy could hear the blonde women's mutterings in her ear.
"That was a wonderful tour, Annika," Remy said loudly. "I'll be sure to tell Dr. Van der Rhys about how accommodating you were."
Annika waved her off. "It is nothing. Better than sitting at my desk and answering phones. But, thank you, I appreciate that."
Dinah's relieved chuckle filtered in through Remy's ear. "Good, you're back. If only she knew that you're completely full of shit."
Remy rolled her eyes as she Annika approached the Doctor's main office. The blonde receptionist slid her key card near the door and held it open for Remy.
"Have a seat, Miss Vanderbilt," Annika told her. "The Doctor will join you in a few moments."
"Thanks," Remy nodded, watching as Annika closed the door behind her and disappeared from Remy's sight.
Remy glanced around the office as she took a seat, noting the obvious. It was a doctor's office and therefore, very clean. The books were perfectly stacked on the shelves behind the desk, the chair was pushed in, and every single piece of paper seemed to have a specific place.
"Dinah? You there?" Remy whispered, speaking directly to her mentor for the first time.
"I read you," she answered back. "What's up?"
"I'm in the Doctor's office," Remy told her. "He's not here yet. Have you seen him?"
"Yeah, he left about fifteen minutes ago," Dinah said, sounding confused. "Told his colleagues he was going back to his office. What floor are you on?"
"Fifth," Remy answered slowly.
"I'm in the basement now, but that's where I was," Dinah responded after a moment. "It does not take fifteen minutes to walk down the hall. Be on guard, Remy. I'm heading your way now."
"Sounds good, I don't like this. It's—"
Remy was cut off as a black burlap sack came down over her head. She grunted, reaching down for the staff in her boot.
Before she could get there a large hand reached out and grabbed hers, yanking her arm behind her.
"Remy?" Dinah's voice sounded worried but the burlap sack was practically stuffed into her mouth, preventing her from speaking. All she could do was grunt as her attacker forced her off the chair and on to her knees, before both of her hands were cuffed behind her.
"Remy! I'm coming to get you just—"
Remy let out a small screech noise as Dinah's voice cut out of the comm. That meant that either someone was jamming the signal or Dinah had taken a blow to the head and her comm had been crushed.
The former seemed more likely.
Still, Remy could do nothing with her hands, save for kicking her feet around uselessly in the general vicinity, until she felt herself being lifted off the ground.
Her head hit the bottom of a cart before the rest of her body did and she let out a grunt of pain.
I knew this was too easy.
Remy could hear a few people speaking in low voices as she was set down on a cold table. She immediately started trying to roll off the table and someone—whoever had put the damn sack over her head probably—held her down as straps were placed over her upper and lower body. The handcuffs were removed and instead her arms were strapped down tightly next to her body as were her legs.
The burlap sack was the last to go. Remy sucked in a breath of air immediately and rapidly turned her head to find the person who'd bagged her. A cold finger reached into her ear and pulled out the comlink.
A menacing figure stood just beyond the lighted area in what was clearly a lab, his arms crossed and his face hidden in shadows. A more visible figure stood at the foot of the medical table. He looked to be in his late thirties or early forties with a smattering of gray in his brown hair.
"Hello Miss Vanderbilt," he said in a thick Dutch accent. "I'm Dr. Erik van der Rhys. Pleased to meet you."
"Wish I could say the same," Remy spat. "Where am I?"
The doctor chuckled. "You're in a lab of course."
Remy craned her neck as he walked over to a cabinet and began rummaging through the drawers. "You're going to want to let me out of here. Immediately."
The doctor ignored her and pulled out a syringe with a long needle and a vial of yellow liquid. He walked over to the bedside table next to where Remy was laying and set down the vial and syringe before turning on a heart monitor.
Remy's voice was harsh as she spit out her next words. "There is a member of the Justice League waiting for me. When I don't contact her or show up, she will come looking for me and arrest you."
"Holland does not fall under the Justice League's jurisdiction I'm afraid." The doctor shook his head as he pushed aside Remy's shirt to stick on the heart monitor pads.
"Don't touch me!" Remy hissed.
"Try to stay calm, Miss Vanderbilt," Dr. van der Rhys said, his tone apathetic. "This is, after all, what you wanted."
"What are you talking about? You murdered my mother. You're a fucking psycho. I just wanted a meeting. To know why you did it." Remy glared at him as she struggled against her restraints, to no avail. She let her head drop down with a huff.
The fast beeping sounds coming from the heart monitor captured Remy's attention momentarily.
"Mr. Jones," Dr. van der Rhys said, keeping his grey yes on Remy as he spoke, "stand by with the second formula."
"What the fuck are you doing?" Remy demanded, watching as the menacing figure behind the doctor stepped into the light, a syringe filled with a silver liquid in his hands.
The doctor approached her, a small smile on his face. "Why so eager to leave, Miss Vanderbilt? The game is just beginning."
Remy could hear her heart rate speed up as Dr. van der Rhys came to stand next to her, syringe poised just above her skin.
"You won't get away with—ow—this," Remy swallowed as she watched the yellow liquid empty into her arm.
The doctor chuckled. "Death is nothing to fear, Remington. I rather think your mother is better off now than she was alive."
"You bastard, you—" Remy broke off as she felt her muscles stiffen and begin to cramp. Slowly, her throat began to close up, blocking her air flow.
Silently, she pleaded for help, unable to make any audible noises except for choked sobs and desperate gasps for air.
Oh my god, she thought, I'm dying. This is it.
Remy had often wondered what it would be like to die. Would it be peaceful? Would it hurt? She had once even welcomed the prospect of wiping herself off the face of the earth—she couldn't hurt anymore people that way.
But now, every fiber in her body screamed in pain and she could do nothing as she felt her throat tighten up further.
All she could think was: This is it.
She could hear her heartbeat on the monitor gradually slowing down as her lungs seized and her body slumped, lying completely lifeless on the medical table.