Chapter Eight

All of the light's land on you

The rest of the world fades from view

And all of the love I see

Please please say you feel it too

Farmer's Grove, Wisconsin. October 10th 2015. 8:15 a.m.

"Artemis, we're leaving," A nineteen year old Jade stood above her little sister, who had been asleep a few moments earlier.

"Huh?" A young, dazed, and confused Artemis looked up at her sister, "Jade, what's-"

She was cut off as the soon to be assassins covered Artemis's mouth with her hand, "Don't be so loud!" She whispered, "Get your things. We have to go,"

Artemis narrowed her eyes and bit her sister's hand, "No. Not until you tell me what's going on,"

There was a staring match between the two sister's before Jade faltered and opened her mouth to speak, "Artemis… Something happened-"

She was cut off as the front door to the apartment slammed shut. The two made panicked eye contact then, in one sweeping motion, Jade picked up Artemis and hopped out of the window into the fire escape.

"We can't stay here anymore,"

Artemis sat up quickly as her alarm buzzed, shaken by the memory that had come to light.

It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.

She turned off the alarm and just as quickly was pulled back down onto the bed by Wally.

"Noooo," Wally yawned, nuzzling his head into her neck, "Don't go. Call your boss and tell him that your boyfriend needs you,"

Calmed down by the feeling of Wally's arms around her, Artemis responded, "I want to," And she really did. She would have much rather stayed in bed with Wally and slept the morning away than wait on bossy customers but work called, "But I can't. We're understaffed today and Augustus will kill me if I call in sick again,"

Planting a kiss on her shoulder, Wally sighed, "Fine. Can I pick you up afterwards though?"

"Sounds good. I get off at… 4:30?"

"I'll be there at four," The speedster sighed, holding Artemis closer to him, "I don't want to let you go…"

Turning around so that they were face to face, the archer buried her head in his chest, "I don't want you to let me go," She said quietly before sighing and looking up at him, "Promise you'll be there at four?"

"Of course!" He smiled and kissed her nose, "I'd be there earlier but Nightwing wants me to help him with some league stuff,"

"That sounds fine," Artemis gave him a kiss before getting up and walking towards her closet, where she pulled out her Rocket's uniform. She really did not want to work today…

For the past two weeks, Wally and Artemis had spent basically every moment together. Although Artemis had the sneaking suspicion that Wally was glued to her hip primarily out of fear that Sportsmaster would return, she didn't really mind. She liked spending time with him. For the second time in a few years, she finally had somebody in her life that she wanted to keep around.

Chicago, Illinois. October 10th 2015. 1:00 p.m.

Nightwing sighed, staring at the city in front of him in despair. He and Wally had been searching for Sportsmaster for hours, going as far as crossing the state border but they hadn't come up with anything. No traces of technology, skin, hair, or anything that would help find Sportsmaster. It was like he had shown up, attacked Artemis, and then just… disappeared into thin air.

"Nothing…" He sighed, turning to face Wally, "You got anything?"

"Nope!" The speedster ran over towards his best friend, "Absolutely nothing. I don't get it," He huffed in frustration, "We're in Wisconsin for almost a month and nothing, absolutely nothing, to the point where I actually began to doubt if Batman sent us on the right trail or not but then he springs up, without any definable purpose, attacks my girlfriend and leaves,"

"Your girlfriend, huh?" Nightwing smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Yup!" Wally said, smiling proudly, "Well, I mean, it's not official or anything but we're always together and I spend like every night at her place but she's my girlfriend, definitely, maybe,"

Dick would never say it outloud but he was more than a little suspicious of Artemis. From what he had gathered from Zatanna, she was new to town, constantly on the move, and provided little information about her past. It didn't help that she was also Tigress and seemed to almost instantaneously win the heart of one of the biggest sidekick's in the world: Kid Flash. It was suspicious. He'd have to do a little more digging on Artemis Crock…

"I'm happy for you, man," Dick said, smiling. He wasn't going to tell Wally of his suspicions just yet. In fact, he wouldn't tell him of them ever as long as there was nothing in Artemis's background to make him do so.

At that moment, both Wally and Dick's communicators rang. The two boys looked at each other briefly, communicating almost telepathically. If both of their communicators were ringing… Well, then whatever the League wanted to tell them must have been important; so important that they had to make sure that both boys heard it.

"Nightwing online,"

"Kid Flash online,"

"Nightwing, Kid Flash," It was Batman, "Call off your search and report to the Cave immediately. The League has detained Sportsmaster,"

Farmer's Grove, Wisconsin. October 10th 2015. 3:55 p.m.

Zatanna took a sip of her drink as Artemis cleaned the bar in front of her, "So… Wally's not coming to pick you up,"

"Nope," From her tone, Zatanna could tell that Artemis was not pleased about this, "He said he had some business to attend to,"

"Hey. Maybe we can actually do a girl's night?" She suggested, "You know, if Sportsmaster doesn't decide to come back and almost kill us or you again,"

The magician had been meaning to bring up Sportsmaster for the longest time. The entire attack just seemed so strange to Zatanna. She once was a hero herself and wasn't completely lost to the ways of villains. The fact that Sportsmaster had targeted this small town, found this exact bar, and focused his attack on Artemis, of all people, spoke volumes to Zatanna. Sportsmaster's objective in the attack was clear: Artemis. What the sorceress didn't understand though was why.

"Hey," Zatanna quickly added, "Why did Sportsmaster target you anyway?"

She watched her friend carefully, trained eyes picking up on the way that Artemis stilled for a moment before turning to regard the magician, "I don't know. I guess I just got in his way or something,"

"You sure you didn't piss him off or anything? He was pretty dead set on taking you out,"

The archer stiffened, an action that Zatanna was closely aware of. Her eyes didn't meet Zatannna's, focused on polishing the wooden bar, "Zatanna. Not now,"

"No," The magician said, hand darting out to cover Artemis's. The Vietnamese woman's eyes slowly met her friends, shock and anger painting her expression. She opened her mouth to say something but Zatanna cut her off before any words could come out, "No. He was going to kill you, Artemis. I saw his face. He wanted blood. I know villians, I know the way they work, they don't go out of their way unless they have some higher motive, unless they have some sort of emotional connection," She paused, the silence between them taut and tense, "I'm asking you to tell me what that emotional connection is."

Once again, silence. Their eyes were trained, focused on each other. Neither one of them was giving up, neither one of them was backing down, and it was clear in the way they were looking at each other.

Finally, Artemis jerked her hand back, crossing her arms and staring down Zatanna, "Why should I tell you about my past? You haven't given me a hint about yours."

She scoffed, rising from the stool in anger, "My past? It's dangerous, Artemis! You're my best friend and I am not sucking you up in the fucked up shit that landed me here. It's different-"

"How? How is it different?" Artemis asked, her voice sharp, "I have a fucked up past too and I'm not telling you because I'm not dragging you into it! It's the same thing, Zatanna, and you can't expect me to drag you into my drama if you won't drag me into yours!"

As they began yet another staredown, a revelation hit Zatanna; They were both running. A messed up string of events had brought them here, had forced both of them into hiding. They both had a fucked up past and, by refusing to tell each other, they were both refusing help. The only time that her life had gotten a little better since her father's death had been the time she'd spent with Artemis. Maybe the answer, maybe the only way out of this fucked out situation, was with her new best friend's help.

Slowly sliding into the seat on the bar again, she said, "You don't have to tell me yours but I'm telling you about mine," She took out her wallet and held out a picture of her father, sliding it across the bar towards Artemis, "This is my father. You probably know him as Zatara - That's my real last name, by the way. Once, I was fighting with Young Justice. I teamed up with them a few times and, long story short, I messed up. I put on this helmet. It gave this. . . this deity control of me. My father traded his freedom for mine," She took a ragged breath, not able to look at the photo anymore, "It's complicated but. . . he stopped being Zatara, he stopped being my dad, and he became Doctor Fate. You probably know him too," This part was the most difficult one and she had to prepare herself for it, gripping the counter of the bar as if it would keep her steady, "One day, he got into an accident. It was really bad. They didn't think that he would ever wake up. I was saying goodbye when Batman appeared. He and I. . . We made a deal. He would save my father if I ran, faked my death and never came back,"

The anger in Artemis' eyes was gone, replaced by a soft curiosity, "And did you?"

"Yes. I did it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I faked my death, performed one of the most intricate spells possible to do it. It almost killed me, ironically enough, but it worked. I watched them lower my casket into the ground from a safe distance and then I ran. I've been running ever since."

For a beat, Zatanna was silent as she processed her story. It was never something that she'd talked about, not outloud, and it was kind of relieving to be able to say it outloud. There was some residual grief that crept up on her but it wasn't crushing, it wasn't the same sort of grief that had torn her apart when she'd first started running.

She was finally, for the first time, okay, and the notion brought a smile to her face.

"But enough about me," She said, returning to her usual upbeat self, "I want to hear your angsty backstory. Why are you here?"

"Well, it's simple enough," Artemis said, a tired sigh coming from her lips as she leaned against the counter, "Sportsmaster is my father and he wants me dead."

Mount Justice. October 10th 2015. 5:00 P.M.

"Where is the biotech?" Batman asked, voice gruff as the question filtered out into the tiny interrogation room.

"I told you," Lawrence Crock said from his seat in the center of the small, white room, "I don't have it."

There was a pang as Nightwing, standing directly behind Sportsmaster, hit one of the room's walls. It was an intimidation technique, an attempt to show how much power he had, but it didn't seem to work. Sportsmaster was a seasoned criminal and knew how to ignore them, throwing a smirk at the vigilante's direction instead.

"That's bulshit and we both know it," Nightwing said gruffly, "Now tell us where it is,"

"You know, bird boy, I'm telling the truth for once. I don't have it," Lawrence relaxed and leaned back in his chair, adding, "I'm looking for it myself. It was sniped, stolen from me, by this bitch. It's why I've been on the run-"

"You were running from us," Wally interjected, stepping into the conversation.

Rolling his swollen eyes, Sportsmaster said, "Don't flatter yourself. I've been chasing her down. Last I knew, she was spotted in an attack in Madison-"

Attack in Madison.

Those three words triggered Wally's memory. A seemingly random attack by Cheshire, a villain that didn't normally hang out in rural areas. She had been known to work closely with Sportsmaster so it made total sense that she could have taken the technology, stolen it for money or even leverage, and hit the road.

It was Cheshire. It had to be.

"He's telling the truth," Kid Flash said, looking at Batman and Nightwing, "He doesn't have it but I have a pretty good idea of who does."

I'm alive.

Sorry about the absence! First semester of senior year started and I was swamped with scholarships and college apps and goodbyes (oh my!)

But now that I know which college I'm going to and what's happening in my life, I'm good to go! I'm back here to finish these stories and write a few more before college starts (Probably a lot more during and after college tbh).

I hope that you guys are willing to give this story (and me) another chance! :)

Batman's strange request to Zatanna will be explained soon enough and in the next chapter, shit gets REAL.

Please review!