5:34am flashed in red letters on the clock, and of course Batman chooses this time to call us for a meeting. I rolled out of bed and barely caught myself from doing a face plant. I got up and paced around my room to wake up, and then I quickly changed and ran out to the main room. Of course everyone was already there.
"KF you never cease to amaze me." Robin chuckled. I stuck my tongue out at him and he turned away with a grin.
"Team, when on a mission the League caught an assassin from the shadows. We tried to turn her into the police, but they couldn't find anything wrong she did. Tigress, the assassin, isn't known to the public so they didn't have a record of her crimes, she never confessed, and she claims that shooting Black Canary in the stomach was self defense since it was Gotham and Black Canary made a grab for her. We are going to bring her to the mountain and we need you to keep an eye on her until we can track down her family." Batman turned to the computer and typed a few stuff.
"Recognized Superman A01." Batman frowned. Superman appeared on the ground groaning. He shuffled inside his shirt and threw a glowing green gem on the floor. Superboy winced and backed away.
"Kryptonite." Batman darted into the other zeta tube and disappeared.
"KF contain the kryptonite and get Superman away from the tubes. Everyone else, we help Batman." The team went away in a flash, of light and Wally picked up the Kryptonite. He ran to the med bay and placed it in a container for kryptonite. He then ran back out to the main room and dragged Superman away from the tubes. He set the coordinates to Gotham and went inside. Once the scent of rotting flesh hit him he walked out of the phone booth. Random honks rang in Kid Flash's ears making him wince.
Miss M: KF you here?
KF: Yeah, where are you?
Robin: I'll come get you.
I sped walked through the city looking for Robin. Robin being Robin had to drop down from the roof to scare me."Ah, dude."
"Sorry KF." He led me through the city to an alley where the team was barely conscious. A girl with long blonde hair in a ponytail (Her hair is too long to keep down) and dressed in an orange and black costume. Her mask covered her face except her mouth that showed off her pink plump lips. She did a round house kick at Super boy making him fall down in exhaustion. She whipped her head around to face Rob and I. Even in the dark I could make out her eyes narrowing.
"I don't have time for this." She growled. Her voice was husky and sent warmth down my back. Some blonde stray hairs framed her mask. Her shoulders moved up and down, now that I think about it she did fight the League and the team. Robin ran after her, throwing smoke bombs. I couldn't see the fight, but all I know is that Robin came hurtling out of the fog. The fog cleared and this time she had a cut on her face. "God how many are there." She growled at me and jumped onto the fire escape. I snapped out of my trance and followed. Her slim figure above me made it to the roof and she ran off. I reached the top and a faint beeping confused me. I widened my eyes and ran across the roof. In a second the fire escape exploded. Some chips of metal flew at me, but I focused on the figure that dropped to the ground. I jumped over one roof and dropped down into the alley. She wasn't there. I walked out to the street and spied a guy some way over.
"Sir have you seen a girl dressed in an orange and black costume?" I asked the guy.
"Yeah she just ran in there." He pointed to an apartment complex. It was pretty run down, but I went in anyway. There was an empty desk and I groaned at the thought of going to every door. The steps squeaked and a girl with blonde hair and Asian skin (is that even possible) was carrying an older woman with Asian skin and black hair. The younger girl was muttering something to the older woman.
"Excuse me." Both of the girls were shocked to see the speedster. "Have you seen a girl dressed in an orange and black costume in here?" The older woman's face hardened and slowly looked at the blonde. The blonde bit her lip.
"Artemis how could you." The older woman started to cry.
"He was going to kill you!" Artemis yelled. She sat the woman on the empty desk and without a warning she darted up the stairs. I raced after her, but it was hard to find her. I looked around for a little and gave up on the search. I went back down to the woman who was starting to cry.
"Miss, can I ask you some questions about what's going on?" Before she could talk the team came limping in.
"I think I better tell all of you." She whispered. Batman walked in.
"Then start talking." He ordered.
"First I need to go to the hospital, I broke my wrist." She flexed her left arm and winced. Batman picked her up.
"I'll meet you in the cave." He walked out the door, leaving us.
"Kid what happened?" Aqualad asked.
"Well after she beat Robin I chased her to another alley and asked a guy if they had seen her. He said she came in here and I went in. Then some girl named Artemis was carrying that lady down the steps and when I asked them Artemis set her down and ran off. I chased after her, but couldn't find her. Then I came back down." I explained. Aqualad let out a sigh and we headed back to the mountain.
"Team report to the mission room." I guess I dozed off when we got back. I rolled over a little and fell off my bed and onto a guy?
"Ah!" I screamed. Under me Superboy pushed me to the side. I ran into Megan making her squeak. Needless to say it took us a couple minutes to get together. Batman stood in the room with Tigress handcuffed and flanked by Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow. She looked calm.
"This is Tigress, or otherwise known as Artemis Crock." She glared at the back of Batman's head. "Her mother, the one you met is the retired Huntress. Her father is the well known Sportsmaster. And her sister is the assassin Cheshire." She was part of those killers?! "Her father trained her and her sister while her mother was in prison." Tigress snarled at Batman.
"Don't you start talking like you understand my life Bruce." Batman was shocked at his own name. Tigress who had stepped forward was pulled back by Green Arrow. She turned and head butted his nose. He cursed and held his bloody nose.
"How did you?"
"Raz'al ghul had it in his journal."
"Team I want you to watch her while we work out a plan to get her in jail." Batman explained his expression showing no emotion. Red Tornado flew down from his room while the other Leaguers left. Tigress sneered at us.
"Miss Martian, take Tigress and change her into other clothes so we know she won't have a weapon on her." Aqualad told the Martian. She nodded and hesitantly took a step forward only for Tigress to growl at her.
"I got clothes in my bag." She cocked her head to the wall where a dark green duffle stood. Megan brought the bag over and took Tigress to a bathroom. Once they were out of sight Robin brought up his wrist computer.
"Don't tell me you're going to peak on them." Superboy sighed.
"No." The concentration on his face proved he wasn't being silly. "We have an assassin with us. We need to be on high alert. I'm setting up alarms if there is any violence going on. Megan stuck her head out.
"Am I allowed to take off her hand cuffs, it's kind of hard to change with them on." Aqualad nodded her head and tossed her the key. We warily went back to the living room. I went to the fridge to get some food and this time no one (coughRobincough) cracked a joke. We waited for a little with Robin glancing at his computer every five seconds until Megan came in behind the same girl I saw in the building. "I put them back on just in case."
"That was good thinking." Aqualad praised. Tigress or now Artemis flinched at his words. She let Megan lead her to the couch away from the team. Artemis brought her locked hands under her feet so they were in front of her making Superboy growl.
"You try lying on your hands." She snapped back. I tensed ready to tackle her to the ground. A silence fell over us while we watched the assassin.
"So um Artemis right?" Artemis' eye brow twitched. "How did you get into the whole shadows business?" She didn't answer. I came into the room and sat next to Robin. Her grey eyes followed my movements.
"I have a tracker in my suit, the shadows will follow it to this location and get me back." She said. We all looked at her wide eyed.
"Robin." Aqualad didn't need to say anything else, Robin had already ran off to the bathroom. "Why tell us?" She snorted.
"Do you want to kill people?"
"Well obviously you do." I growled at her.
"Not by choice!" She stood up.
"Then stop!" I mimicked her pose and we glared at each other.
"I can't." She spat. "I was born into this and it's too late to get out!" She walked past me making me fall back into the couch from her bump while she walked through the hall way. Aqualad stood up and dashed after her. I rubbed my eyes and groaned. She is like an unknown DNA, you know you won't be able to find out what it actually came from but you try anyway. Aqualad came back in and led Artemis by her elbow. "Take these stupid hand cuffs off before I kill you with them."
"You must not harm us or try to get away." Aqualad told her.
"Please, if I wanted to go back to the shadows I'd already be there. After all you sent the one guy who could give me a run for my money to trash my suit." She grinned at our mistake. Aqualad hesitantly unlocked her hand cuffs. "You know you had them on really tight." She showed us her wrists where blood was starting to form. She went to the kitchen and wet a paper towel to dab on her wrists. She examined the room. "I knew you would be hiding out at the old mountain, but no one believed me." She whispered.
"Would you like some food?" Megan asked.
"Um, sure." She bit her lip.
"Miss M can I have some too?" Now wasn't the time to flirt with her.
"Sure, KF." I noticed she hesitated on my name. "Anyone else wants pancakes?" Murmurs from the other guys sent her off to the kitchen with Artemis in tow. We watched the two girls get out ingredients.
"Do we really trust her to make our food?" I asked the guys.
"I'm not making it." Artemis shouted from the kitchen. She was perched on the island. Superboy turned on the static and we waited until Megan came in with our food. We murmured thanks and ate in silence. The computer announced Robin and someone named Paula Crock arriving at the cave. Artemis quickly stood up and made her way to the bathroom only to be stopped by the same woman she was carrying, but in a wheel chair and a white cast around her left wrist. "Um, hey mom."
"Sit!" Paula ordered. Artemis took a couple steps back to sit on the couch. Her mother followed. "How could you go out and kill people like your father?!" She didn't leave any space for her daughter to talk. "I kicked him out so you wouldn't end up like him, like me!"
"They were going to kill you!" Artemis interrupted.
"My life isn't worth the thousands you killed! You know just as well as I do that in a year they will tell you to kill me and when you refuse they will kill both of us. All of the killing you did would be worthless." The Vietnamese woman scolded. She looked so angry. "I will not call anyone my family when they are an assassin. And you Artemis Lian Crock better clean up your act." It was a shock to us all when she hit her daughter. All of us, including her. "Artemis." Her voice wavered. Artemis stood up.
"You aren't one to accuse me of acting like him." We could see the tears starting to form in her eyes while she walked to the bathroom.
"I better go." Paula whispered. She wheeled herself down the hall way with Aqualad in tow. When he came back we waited five minutes until Megan knocked on the door.
"What." Artemis growled.
"Artemis please come out." Some noises were heard and the door swung open so we could see her, perfectly normal?
"Is there any where I could sleep?" Her voice was tiny. Megan offered a smile and led her to the 7th room. We also went to our own room.
Something padded on my door. I groaned and threw a pillow at the door and mumbled a 'go away'. "KF." Robin's voice. "Batman needs to talk to us." I grumbled and opened my door. In the main room Batman started a clip once we go there. It showed the scene when Artemis and her mom argued.
"Thanks to this we can show it to the police and get her arrested for a good amount of time." Batman explained. I felt like we just betrayed Artemis somehow. No, she killed people and she needs to go to jail. "Good work."
"Good work." Artemis mocked as she stepped out of the hall way. "Nice job, pinning my mom against me so you can get the confession you need." She glared at us with a hint of betrayal in her eyes.
"Artemis we didn't know." Megan watched the girl walk up to us.
"Sure and I didn't know my hair was blonde." She mocked as she walked up to the Martian. "And if I'm going to jail I'm going to make that time worth it." Megan gasped and took two shaky steps back to show a knife plunged into her stomach. Superboy reacted first, he went to Artemis and she flipped him over by his arm and sent a kick to his shoulder making him grunt. Robin kicked her back and threw a batarang that she dodged. But she didn't see the sai. I jammed into her calf making her fall to the floor. "Jade." She hissed.
"Missed you too sis." Cheshire dropped on the floor next to her sister. "The shadows sent me to kill you." The sharp metal blade of her sword touched the back of Artemis' neck. "But I won't." She shielded the blade and lifted the blonde up, making sure to take out the sai. She injected a needle into her sister's arm.
"Why poison me, and then give me the antidote." She groaned.
"You wouldn't have listened. Artemis now you can stop working with the shadow, they don't have a reason to hurt mom." Jade set her sister against the wall. Batman held his hand out to stop the team from advancing.
"Didn't think you'd care." Artemis' eyes started to flutter close.
"I'm not going to let you suffer the same fate as me. Artemis you have the chance to do what you want and not what you need."
"I need to wake up." Artemis pushed herself off the wall with a grunt. Jade instantly pushed her to the floor.
"Stay down." She hissed.
"I need to help mom." She mumbled.
"For once Artemis think about yourself." Artemis said something that sounded like an 'I do' making the assassin snort. "What school are you going to, what job are you going to have, how much do you eat every day, and what do you do with the money the shadows give you?" Artemis rubbed her eyes, before answering.
"Mom teaches me, the shadows give me enough money, I don't need that much food, and we need the money for the apartment." She answered without missing a beat. Jade picked up her sister and set her on her feet in the training room.
"That stuff doesn't count." She gave her sister boxing gloves and she started to beat the bag. "Artemis you have the chance to think about yourself." Artemis' kick swung the bag back.
"Even if I could I'd need a place to live." Artemis stopped and looked at her sister, tears threatening to break. "Mom slapped me today." She said in a small voice. Her sister squeezed her tight while she let out sobs.
"Shh, Artemis mom doesn't hate you. Just quit and live life." She sister clutched the kimono tighter. "Please Artemis, for mom, for me." Jade kissed the top of her sister's head. "I have to go." Artemis' grip loosened and she pulled away, franticly wiping her eyes. Jade placed her sister on the floor and darted away from the room. Artemis sniffled and pulled her legs up to her chest.
"Superboy go see Miss Martian and Aqualad in the med bay. Kid Flash and Robin help me get her to belle rev." Batman ordered. Artemis stood up and glared at the dark night. Her eyes and nose were still red.
"Don't bother I can walk by myself." She hissed. The color on her cheeks started to fade. Artemis bumped past Batman and started for the zeta tubes.
"Batman it isn't her fault." Robin protested. "Can't we just give her a chance?"
"Robin now isn't the time." Batman brushed past his protégée.
"Batman give her a chance." Robin followed his mentor.
"Don't bother." Artemis snapped her head back, all signs of her crying were gone. "My soul isn't worth saving."
"You didn't say it can't be saved." I grinned. She looked at me with conflicted eyes.
"I've killed more people then you saved. If I just do my time now once I get out I can get a part time job and help my mom."
"Cheshire was right." Artemis glared at me. "Start thinking about yourself. The police don't have anything against you, just make it up by joining the team." I grinned at her.
"That's a great idea!" Robin commented.
"We could use an archer." Aqualad entered the room. "But I don't know how well we can trust you after you stabbed Miss Martian."
"Sorry about that, I made sure to not hit any organs." Artemis played with the strands of her hair.
"I realized that. But you still hurt her." Miss Martian came floating out with a bandage across her torso.
"I know it wasn't your fault, you warned me you were going to stab me." Megan went over to Artemis and laid a hand on her shoulder. "And I told you it was okay, your sister's mask had a camera on it and you needed to put on a show until she disabled it."
"You were the only one I could tell, I'm sorry." Artemis slid out from under the green skinned girl's hand.
"Miss M she still hurt you." Superboy grabbed her hand.
"Three vote she joins the team, three votes she goes to jail." Robin pointed out. "How will we decide?"
"What about Artemis?" KF suggested.
"I don't think I should have a say in this." She put her hands up in surrender and backed away with a small smile on her lips. A bark attracted the team's attention. Wolf stood in the doorway with a wagging tail.
"They say dogs can sense weather someone is good or bad." Robin stated. Artemis walked up to the dog and held out her hand.
5 Years later:
She sat on the cold chair and faced the man in front of her. Her long hair was pinned into a ponytail that brushed her back. She bit her lip while she looked at him. Neither said anything, they didn't know what to say.
"You only have five minutes." The officer warned. Artemis gulped.
"H-hey." She played with her clothes.
"What are you doing here Artemis?" Sportsmaster growled from the other side of the glass.
"I need to tell you that, I'm going to marry Wally." She looked up to see her father's reaction. He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I wanted you to know."
"When?"
"Next month, Megan is planning the wedding and I'm working on the design for the bridesmaid dresses, with the help of Zatanna." Artemis let out a small laugh.
"Why tell me?" His words brought up the conversation with Wally when he asked her the same question.
"Because you are still my dad. Barely by blood, but even so."
"One minute left." The guard warned.
"Artemis." She looked into her dad's soft eyes. "Who's going to walk you down the aisle?"
"Ollie, I said it would be fine if I walked by myself, but all the girls didn't let that happen." A ghost smile grazed her lips.
"Don't lose your friends and don't let Oliver lead you down the aisle. I'll be out before then and I'm not going to miss another daughter's wedding." He looked at her with determined eyes. The guard came to get her dad. And she stood up herself.
"Promise." She turned away without another glance.
Do you want a wedding story? Just let me know.