Chapter Seven is dedicated to WITHLOVEME! I just love it when you guys review- I really do!
Artemis struggled in vain as she was pulled closer to the door that would destroy all her hopes of escaping, but her mind was already racing to think of ways to escape. If this guy thought she was going down without a fight, he was wrong.
Even in this desperate situation, she was able to detect the vulnerabilities of the hold she was in, and calculate just what she needed to do to escape.
A quick kick in the balls was a start, and she was soon able to twist his arm behind his back until he cried out in pain. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. She was tackled to the ground but not held down firmly, enabling her to roll out of his hold drop kick him when he tried to stand. When the other thug pulled out a gun, she quickly dove behind gymnastics apparatus to further study her opponents' tactics.
She tried to ignore the shaking in her limbs as she searched the room for something to help her. Her eyes immediately landed on the bow and arrow propped against the eastern wall and ran as quickly as possible to it, dodging the bullets fired at her. She heard the gunman's partner order him to stop shooting; they needed her alive.
Her sweaty hands eagerly grasped the bow and she anxiously hid behind a pile of boxes, heart racing and body on fire. The room became silent again as the men probed the room to find her.
She had never used a bow before, but she did her best to follow how she had seen it used. She was covered in a thin sheet of sweat, not making it any easier for her trembling hands to hold the bow in place. Her front teeth were sinking deeper into her lower lip. She tasted blood.
Notching an arrow into the string, she peeked from behind her hiding place and saw the men with their backs turned to her. She pulled back hard on the string.
Twang
She silently prayed that the trick arrow she had used wouldn't be something that would kill them, and was relieved and amazed when it found it's mark and exploded into a gooey substance, trapping one thug.
The other whirled in astonishment and ducked behind a pillar just as she shot another arrow at him. This one caused a small explosion in the place he had stood just milliseconds before. The blast still knocked him down, and, in a desperate measure, he muttered, "Fuck it!" and pulled out the gun again.
Artemis had counted the four shots he had fired already, and, upon examination, decided that his gun was a six shooter, and that she had only to get him to fire twice more until he was out. Of course he may have more bullets, but by then she could get help.
Gritting her teeth, she quickly kicked a box so that it flew several feet away, causing the man to impulsively shoot at it.
One down, one to go.
She notched another arrow, one with a blunted tip, and took aim from behind the boxes. Her heart nearly stopped when he spotted her hiding place, but she forced herself to pull the string back as quickly as possible.
She heard him cock his gun. She released the arrow. The gun fired.
There was a shout from the man, and Artemis realized she had been closing her eyes and waiting for the bullet to reach her heart. Her arrow had hit the gun just in time to knock it out of the man's hand before he could fire at her. Relieved and breathing heavily, she sat back, and sighed, unable to make another move if she wanted to.
Fortunately, the two men decided that now would be the best time to make a break for it. The one covered in ooze had released himself, and the other helped him up.
"The boss never told us she was trained! Let's get out of here!"
They ran pell-mell for the door and slammed it shut behind them.
It took Artemis a moment to regain her composure, and she spent all of fifteen minutes with her knees to her chest, shaking violently. She finally examined the slender fingers she had used to pull the string and hold the arrow in place while shooting. They had burned her soft, tender fingers. It would take ages to build up calluses, but she had rather enjoyed using the bow.
Even though they were just a couple of common thugs, she still felt proud of herself for freeing herself long enough to scare them off. Only two weeks into her training, and she had beat up two guys, not including Cameron. She winced as she remembered him, and how she was going to explain herself if she was ever asked about the incident.
Artemis decided to skip her previously planned practice, and went straight to her room. She was going to need a lot of time to think over what had just happened.
oOo
Raquel had just finished a lecture in her criminology class when she spotted it. Her walk from the class room to the coffee shop had started as it typically did; she was the first one out of class, and she immediately checked her cell phone for messages she might have received during the lecture. Then, she was met with a strange sight.
Artemis, covered in sweat and panting like mad, was trotting quickly down the hall, trying, she assumed, to act casual.
"Art?" Raquel asked uneasily as she approached. "You okay?
"Yep just fine I'm just really hungry that's all."
The words spilled out like garbage from a dumpster, and Raquel had noticed a strange glow of excitement about her, her eyes bright and walk confident. She wondered for a moment what had happened. A boy? No, that didn't explain the sweat. Well, at least she didn't think it did. Either way she wanted an explanation. She would have to hold back her curiosity until the next training session, however; for Artemis was already miles down the hall.
When Artemis reached her room, she pulled out a notebook and pen. She was tired of missing Nightwing; if there was a mystery to solve, she would do it herself. She didn't need him.
She wrote a list of the times people had broker in, and a description of them. She realized she did not know if there had been other break ins, and added that to a list of information she needed to find out.
After three hours of jotting down information, erasing, racking her brain for answers, she finally stretched her cramped legs and paced around the room a few times.
She had a healthy list of information she still needed; information that could no doubt be found in the Shadows' computer data base. To find out where that was and how she could get to it, however would take more work. But where there's a will, there's a way, and she still had plenty of will.
Grabbing her notebook and pencil and shoving it into a purse, she checked herself in the mirror before leaving the apartment and heading down to the lab unit. She was sure she could find information on how to get into the data base from the science geeks there.
oOo
"Sorry, I just don't have any idea how to work with the technology. I'm really just the chemical compound man, you know?"
Artemis groaned. She had tried three scientists already, and no one knew any thing about high tech computers. The elderly man in the lab coat she had just spoken with continued, "But there is a guy who works here part time that might be able to help you out. He's one of those young hot-shots, probably knows a little bit more about the gizmos of this day and age. I bet he could help you."
"Thank you," she smiled, but wasn't all that confident. She had already been directed to several people that had been no help. Just the same, this could be her answer.
She found the one she was looking for over by a set of shiny new computers. He seemed to be assembling them with lightning speed and programming others at the same time. She could tell he was busy, and knew that she'd have to really catch his attention to learn anything.
First she perched herself on the edge of the desk, her feet barely lifted off the ground. "Excuse me," she smiled, pretending to look interested in what he was doing.
The red head lifted his eyes from his work and glanced at her. Immediately he set down the disc he was working with and stood up straight.
"Well, hello. How can I help a pretty lady such as yourself? Need an escort to dinner tonight? My schedule's just been cleared."
She flashed him a bright smile in return. This guy was way more of a pushover than she had predicted.
"I might just take you up on that," she replied, eyes twinkling. "I always have had plenty of questions for big- brained scientists like you."
"My brain's all yours, babe." He gestured towards his fiery hair. "Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."
"Mm, but that sounds like so much fun." She gave him a flirtatious smile and batted her eyelashes once. Okay, girl, don't over do it. She was already trying to ignore that she was kind of enjoying this.
The young scientist looked at her with intriguing green eyes. "Then fire away."
"You seem to know a lot about technology," she nodded in the direction of the computers he was programming. "Do you happen to have any flash drives as big as say, 10 gigs?"
He smiled and spun in his chair, reaching over and pulling a draw open. He pawed through it for a moment, then plucked one out. He tossed it to her and sat back. "Anything else? I'm at your complete disposal."
"Thanks so much," Artemis pretended to breath a sigh of relief. "I have a huge paper due, and I wrote it on my friend's computer while mine was being worked on." She then gave him another admiring smile. "I'm sure you know all about electronics. It's amazing that I can move that much information in this tiny drive."
"Flash drives have come a long way in a short time," he explained, happy to share any information he could use to impress her. "They've only been around for a decade or so, but just recently they released the 256 gig. It's pretty cool."
"How do you think we store so much information here?" She asked, pretending to be amazed at the vastness of computer technology. "Is there a main system, or are the computers controlled each individually?"
"Oh, no way. We've got a whole room devoted to controlling the system. All the cameras, all the computers, every report sent in is controlled and stored in the data base. Kind of like having one big computer to control all the little ones."
Bingo.
This was exactly what she wanted. Now she just had to get out of here with out seeming to be in too much of a hurry. "Well, I have another class to be at, but I really enjoyed your help."
"And I thoroughly enjoyed giving it. Feel free to drop by if you have any more questions. And," he winked at her, "keep that dinner invitation in mind."
"Will do," she gave him one last smile. She felt his eyes on her as she exited the room until she heard his supervisor yell, "West! I need those formulas right away! They're late again!"
Artemis rolled her eyes at the flirtatious scientist. Geek.
Step one was complete. Now, she looked at her notepad and the list of information she had to gain from the database. If this went well, she wouldn't need Nightwing's sleuthing. But when he gets back -she thought of all the things she had discovered he had been hiding from her- we're gonna have a nice long talk.
oOo
So, there's a little action for you! I gotta tell you, I really missed the archery up till now. I just couldn't wait any longer. Same with Wally. He's just too good to leave out of any story. Hope you didn't like it too much though, cause that was just supposed to be a little spitfire tribute.
As always, please take a moment to tell me how you've liked it so far! I'll love you for it!
Random Justice League Fact: The Justice League has six different headquarters. So kind of like six different back up plans, right?