A/N: Wow what an overwhelmingly positive response to the last chapter! Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and feelings! I was so excited to read each and every one of them :)

And now we move into the part of the story where I start to rip the Team apart. So brace yourselves b/c it might get a little ugly at times.

Shout out to mark of Orlando for leaving such a nice review regarding the kiss Wally and Artemis shared back in Chapter 11! Your nice words really made my day, so thank you!

Disclaimer: "I don't own Young Justice. DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and Cartoon Network have the rights to it. I'm just having some fun :)"

Rated T for some language, suggestive themes, and descriptive violence.

Italics mean thoughts

"Italics within quotes" mean telepathy

The first reaction to truth is hatred . . .

Tangled Web

Chapter 19: Two Truths and a Lie

Mount Justice

October 30, 03:03 EDT

"He's still out cold, huh?"

"Yeah. You really hit him hard with that psychic blast."

"I didn't want to, but it was that or let him have a complete mental breakdown right there on the beach. His mind was absolute chaos. It makes me shiver just thinking about it . . . I had to shut his mind down."

"I know . . . I knew he was gonna take it pretty hard if anything happened to her, but I never imagined-"

Wally suddenly groaned as he tried to move, his limbs sluggish and heavy, as if he were attempting to swim through tar. His head ached with a dull throb and his throat felt raw and scratchy. The speedster's eyes opened and florescent light washed out the darkness he'd been suspended in. The harsh lightning only aggravated his headache further.

"I think he's coming to," a male voice said from nearby, and when Wally's eyes finally regained their ability to focus, he saw Megan and Robin leaning over him, identical looks of concern etched on both of their faces.

"Wally," Megan tentatively began. "How . . . how are you feeling?"

He let out another gravely moan as he sat up in the small bed he'd been lying in, his hand moving to rub his temple.

"Ugh, like my brain was dumped in a high speed blender." He glanced around, taking in the white walls and sterile beds of the infirmary. "Why am I in sickbay?"

Megan and Robin looked at each other, neither wanting to be the one to address his question. It wasn't reassuring for the speedster. Finally, Robin cleared his throat.

"What, uh, what do you remember?"

"Dude, my mind feels so scrambled right now I'm lucky I remember my name."

"Right. Well, Batman sent us to Maine on a mission last night. We were to blow up a-"

"Stash of Kobra Venom being housed there, right?" Wally asked as his muddled brain worked to piece the previous night back together.

"That's right," Megan said. "We succeeded in destroying it, but we were attacked by a mutated guy. I guess he knocked me unconscious when he slammed me against the building." Megan's voice had become shaky as her eyes grew glassy with tears. "He threw me into Artemis and we-we went over the cliff . . ."

Wally stared straight ahead, his eyes unfocused as he listened. His mind began to clear as Megan recounted the details of their last mission. It was cold and raining, he remembered that. And he remembered running for dear life, as if his very own world would come crashing down around him if he didn't make it to his destination in time. Based on the fact that Megan was near tears and his best friend had the most somber expression he'd ever seen on the young boy's face, Wally had a sinking feeling that, despite his best efforts, something didn't go quite right.

In a hollow voice that sounded foreign to his own ears, Wally asked, "Where's Artemis?"

The forlorn glance his teammates shared was enough to confirm his fear.

"No . . ." he whispered in denial even as his befuddled brain cleared and the events from the previous night came rushing back. "Artemis is fine, she has to be . . ."

"Wally-"

"No!" the redhead cried, cutting off Robin as he lifted his eyes to glare heatedly at the boy. "Artemis is alive! She's a survivor! She was just injured," he insisted, his wild green eyes scanning the room for her form, for a sliver of hope that it wasn't true.

Robin leaned forward and gripped the spiraling speedster by the shoulders. "Stop it, Kid!" he ordered and shook him firmly. He couldn't stand to see his friend unraveling at the seams. "She's not . . . here." He paused a moment to swallow the lump that had risen in his throat. "Kaldur pulled her body from the ocean himself. Artemis is gone."

Wally clenched the thin sheet covering his legs as if it were a lifeline tying him to this twisted reality he'd woken up in. He'd let her fall. He couldn't save both girls, so Artemis had given her life so that he could save Megan's. And for a second, just a split second, he wished it'd been the other way around, wished that Megan had taken the fall instead of Artemis. He hated himself for letting the thought even cross his mind.

"Recognized, Superboy, B04," the feminine security system sounded over head.

"Looks like Superboy finally found his way back," Robin said.

Megan sighed heavily. "I'll . . . I'll go talk to him, tell him what happened." She moved for the door, but glanced back at Wally. "I'm so sorry, Wally," she whispered. And she was. She was sorry they'd lost Artemis in order to keep her, sorry for what he was going through, because it was clear Artemis's death was going to affect him far more than anyone else. Most of all, she was sorry she couldn't just tell him that, even though Artemis had died last night, she wouldn't stay dead.

He didn't give her a response, didn't even look at her. She quietly let herself out of the room and floated down the hallway. She reached the bioship hanger just as Conner was wiping the last of the dirt from the Supercycle. Megan let her feet touch the floor, and the click of her heels hitting the metal caught his attention. He glanced up at her for a moment, before turning his attention back to sphere.

"Where have you been all night?" she asked quietly.

"Out." His reply was curt, and Megan felt a spark of anger ignite inside of her at his obvious dismissal.

"Doing what? What was so important that you missed our mission?" Conner ignored her and in a rare show of force Megan thrust her right arm out, eyes glowing green. A moment later Conner felt his backside slam against the opposite wall. Though she didn't hold him there, he stayed against the wall, too shocked by her forceful outburst to do more than gap at her.

"I asked you a question!" she exclaimed as she stalked towards him.

"What the hell has gotten into you?!" he suddenly shouted back, fury beginning to twist his features.

"Artemis is gone! We lost her last night!"

In an instant, the agitation and anger Conner was beginning to feel vanished. "What?"

"She died! And if you'd been there like you were supposed to be, it might not have happened! You could have saved us both, but you weren't there! So it was me or her, and she chose me," she finished in a whisper. "And now she's gone. Wally's psyche is fractured; the team has lost a friend; and all so you could go joyriding instead. You let us down, Conner."

Unable to stand the sight of him, she turned away and hurried from the room. Superboy continued to stare at the empty spot Megan had been standing in long after she was gone, trying to process everything she'd said. The team had lost a member last night, something he might have been able to prevent if he hadn't shirked his responsibilities. The one they lost might have been Megan if not for Artemis's apparent sacrifice. What the hell had he done?

With a growl he spun towards the wall and slammed his fist into it, creating a foot deep dent in the steel.

x x x

Mount Justice

October 30, 05:00 EDT

He didn't want to be here.

In fact, he could think of few places he'd rather be less at that particular moment, given all that had recently happened. But when Batman called for an audience you came, it was as simple as that. So Wally stood in the briefing room with the rest of the team, minus one head strong archer, whose absence felt like a gaping wound, waiting for Batman to address them. The room was deadly quiet and so heavy with sadness that Wally swore he could see it drifting around like a dark cloud. Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado silently shuffled into the room and Batman finally began.

"I called you all here to discuss the ramifications of last night's mission." His gaze landed on Conner, and the boy had the good grace to drop his eyes to the floor in shame. Batman looked back at the group and continued. "You succeeded in acquiring some samples of the Kobra Venom. It's already been sent to the Watch Tower where The Flash and Atom are going to begin analyzing it immediately. Hopefully it will be the key they need to formulate a serum that can reverse the so far permanent effects. The mission was not without tragedy, however." He paused and Wally had to swallow the lump that had risen in his throat.

"Artemis's funeral will be tomorrow," Black Canary spoke softly. She flicked her gaze at Conner as she said, "Attendance is mandatory."

The Kryptonian hunched his shoulders even further at the comment, his eyes remaining on the floor.

"Losing Artemis is not only a blow to this team, but to the Justice League's fight against the League of Shadows as well."

Wally's eyebrows furrowed. He hadn't expected to hear that. It was clear that Batman's statement had caught the rest of the team by surprise as well. Batman turned around and began to type on the holo-computer. Within seconds three separate pictures appeared on the screen, each with it's own caption. Wally recognized two of the people on display immediately by their costumes. One was Cheshire, the other was Sportsmaster, two members of the League of Shadows. The third picture was a young woman in a brown and tan, skin tight costume with a paw print on the chest and dark eye makeup, the words "Huntress" written underneath. The word "retired" was stamped across her picture in red. Each picture had a smaller headshot pop up next to it a second later of the person without their mask or makeup on, and those pictures had civilian aliases written next to them. Wally felt his heart sputter erratically when his eyes landed on the third picture. He recognized the face, it was older than the face in the full body shot, but it was clearly the same woman. The name next to the headshot confirmed his recognition. Paula Crock, the same surname that Artemis bore. Artemis's mother, the sweet, wheelchair bound lady he'd meet not long ago, had been a villain. His eyes drifted to the man in the middle and his heart all but stopped that time. Sportsmaster's civilian last name was also Crock, Lawrence Crock. The name next to Cheshire read Jade Nyugen, and though the last name was different, Wally was sure she was related too.

Artemis was from a family of villains.

Wally turned his heated glare on Green Arrow. "You said she was your niece!"

Green Arrow sighed forlornly. "If it's any consolation, I wish she had been. No kid deserves a family like that."

"It was part of her cover story," Batman said.

"What cover story?" Robin asked, an edge to his voice as he stared at his mentor.

"Nine years ago, her mother and father robbed a museum," Black Canary explained. "During their getaway, she fell from the roof and was crippled. She spent nine years in prison for her crimes and was finally released in July. All this time Artemis's father had been training her to join the Shadows, like her sister Cheshire did. But she didn't want to be a part of that life style, so Sportsmaster threatened to harm her mother, Paula, if she didn't cooperate. After she saved Kid Flash during your fight with Amazo, Batman and Green Arrow decided to track her down. She explained what was going on, and that the Shadows had tasked her with infiltrating your team to prove her loyalty. Not only did she want to defy them, she wanted to help bring them down."

"So we came to an agreement," Batman continued. "She would join this covert ops team, but instead of feeding the Shadows information on us, she'd feed us information on the Shadows, in addition to using her advanced skills to help keep the rest of you safe. In return, we would do everything in our power to make sure nothing happened to her mother."

Kaldur suddenly placed his hand on the wall for support. "She was the mole."

"What?" Wally asked, turning to look at their leader.

"Back in September, when I was helping Red Arrow against Sportsmaster and Cheshire in Taipei, Sportsmaster alluded to their being a mole on the Team. He was talking about Artemis."

"Wait, you knew there might have been a spy but you didn't say anything to us!?" Conner yelled. "What the hell?!"

"I could not say anything. Sportsmaster might have simply been trying to mess with the dynamics of our group and breed mistrust. And in the event there was a spy, I could not risk alerting that person to my knowledge of their existence." He shook his head. "I had my suspicions about Artemis, but I had no idea she was a double agent."

Robin crossed his arms over his chest. "So that's why you'd been asking Wally and me questions about Artemis after we'd started spending more time with her."

Kaldur nodded his head. It was obvious from the look on his face that he felt terrible for doubting the blonde. "And now I cannot even apologize for my lack of faith in her."

"I don't understand," Megan spoke. She knew about Artemis's resurrection mark, and she'd known about her villainous parents, though the archer had neglected to tell Megan that her sister was also a villain the team had faced. She'd had no idea, however, that Artemis had been on a secret mission to spy on the Shadows as a double agent. "Why were we not informed of Artemis's mission? We were her teammates."

Green Arrow shook his head. "It wasn't that simple."

"Oh? Because it sure sounds simple to me," Conner spit.

"The less who knew about Artemis's true role on this team, the easier it would be to keep her cover from being blown," Batman explained.

Robin flicked his gaze to his mentor. "Who else in the League knew about Artemis's role as a double agent?"

"Just us four," Black Canary replied as she waved her hand to encompass the other three heroes.

Wally scrubbed his tired face with his hands. It all made sense now, why Artemis was so secretive about her personal life, why she randomly disappeared from the cave for days on end, why she was so skilled despite the small amount of time she'd spent working with Green Arrow, why Cheshire had been so interested in her, the extra work she was doing for Batman that he'd heard her mother mention, and most of all, it explained all the scars she carried. Wally shuddered, unable to imagine what it could have possibly been like to be raised by Sportsmaster. The abuse and negligence she must have suffered at his hands throughout the duration of her life . . . His stomach twisted painfully at the thought. It was a damn miracle she'd turned out the way she had. If she hadn't been such a strong-willed individual, well, she would have become as unstable as Cheshire. But instead of completely removing Artemis from the horrible situation she was in, the League kept her there on purpose just to get more information.

Wally felt his blood begin to boil, and he swung his heated gaze back to the adults. "You used her."

"We needed an inside source; Artemis was perfect for the job," Red Tornado explained as though the answer should have been obvious. "Her familial relations and expected loyalty to the League of Shadows made her the logical choice to undertake this mission."

"She was just a teenager!" Wally exclaimed. "How could you put her in danger like that?!"

"You may be teenagers, but you are far from normal," Batman said, his voice calm and even despite Wally's outburst. "You have special abilities and talents, and you have a responsibility to use them. You wanted this team; you wanted to be treated like adults. That means taking risks, putting your lives on the line for a greater purpose. The needs of many outweigh the needs of one. Artemis understood that, if you can't, then you don't belong on this team."

Wally immediately lunged at Batman with a snarl, and it was only Kaldur's quick reaction that stopped him from racing towards the Dark Knight with raised fists. The Atlantean kept a tight grip on the heaving redhead and pulled him from the room, the others wordlessly following.

"He'll hate you forever for this, you know," Green Arrow sighed as he watched Kaldur drag Wally from the room.

"Better he hate me, than himself."

x x x

A half hour after the meeting with the team, Batman finally left the briefing room and started down the dimly lit hall.

"Batman, please wait."

He turned to see Megan floating towards him. She'd been waiting for him, and he could tell from the apprehensive look on her face that whatever she wanted to discuss with him was making her ill at ease. When she reached him he stared at her silently, waiting for her to continue.

"I want to see Artemis."

"You will get a chance to pay your respects and say goodbye to her at her funeral tomorrow." He turned away from the young Martian abruptly, his cape hissing softly as it fluttered from the movement.

"I know about her mark!" Megan boldly shouted as she took a step forward. Batman swung around, his eyes narrowed.

x x x

The phone rang three times before a surly male voice picked up on the other end.

"Yeah?"

"Roy, it's me."

Roy let out a tired sigh. "This better be important, Kal. It's," there was a slight pause on the other end, "5:30 in the morning."

"Artemis is gone."

Roy scoffed and Kaldur could practically hear his eyes roll. "Oh yeah? I'm not surprised she split. I knew she didn't have what it takes to be in this gig."

No, Roy, she didn't quit."

Roy was silent for a moment, then he said, "Wait, you mean . . ."

We were on a mission last night and she . . . she didn't make it," Kaldur explained, voice heavy.

"Christ," Roy swore, voice barely above a whisper. It was no secret that Roy and Artemis didn't exactly like each other, but the older archer would have never wished for such a fate to befall his younger counter part. If he was honest with himself, he didn't even really dislike the flippant blonde. He'd just been a little jealous that his old mentor had filled the spot he'd vacated so quickly, and he'd taken it out on Artemis the day they met, causing an instant rivalry to develop between the two of them.

"Her funeral's tomorrow," Kaldur spoke, bringing his friend back to the present.

"Shit, Kal, I'm sorry." He knew his friend well enough to know that, as leader of the team, Kaldur would blame himself, feel that her blood was on his hands. He couldn't imagine the weight of that burden.

"Roy, we . . . we might need an archer."

Roy's response was immediate. "You've got one."

x x x

Megan shrank back with a cringe. It wasn't easy having the Dark Knight's glare directed at you full force. "It-it was an accident. I saw it in her mind, when we were on the mission in Chicago. I confronted her afterwards and sh-she told me about the mark and her mom and dad, although she left out her sister and the double agent mission she's been on. She made me promise not to tell the Team, and I didn't, obviously."

Batman remained completely silent and Megan began to fidget under his intense glare. Finally he said, "Come with me," and began to walk back down the hallway.

Megan scurried after him. In a matter of minutes they stopped outside a thick set of steel double doors that Megan was unfamiliar with.

"What room is this?" she asked.

"The on-site morgue."

Megan felt her stomach clench. She was glad to be unfamiliar with this room. Batman gripped the handle and pushed the door open. As soon as he walked in, a light automatically turned on above. Megan followed and her eyes immediately fell on the small blonde figure laid out on a steel table in the middle of the room. Artemis was still in her uniform from the night before, and her complexion was so ashen that Megan found it hard to believe she'd eventually be alive again.

"How long before she comes back?"

"No telling. It's not an exact science. Drowning seems to take the longest. It takes time for all the water to leave her system in order for her lungs and heart to start functioning again. Based on past experiences, however, it shouldn't be much longer."

A shiver ran up Megan's spine at the thought, and she resigned herself to sitting in silence with the Dark Knight while they waited for the archer to rejoin the living. It took over an hour, but the heavy silence was suddenly shattered by a bone jarring, wet cough. Megan's head snapped up at the sound and she saw Artemis jerk up quickly, water stream from her mouth as she leaned forward, chest heaving, gasping for breath as if she'd just run a mile.

"Artemis!" Megan cried as she rushed to her friend's side.

The blonde immediately locked eyes with the redhead and sighed as relief rushed through her. "M'gann," she croaked, voice scratchier than usual. "Thank God you're alright."

"M'gann is alright. You, on the other hand, are not," Batman said as he approached the two girls.

Artemis sat up a little straighter, just now realizing she and Megan were not alone. And if Megan was here with Batman then he had to know that she knew about the mark. "It was an accident," Artemis suddenly said, voice defensive.

"So I've heard. But we have more pressing matters to discuss. Your funeral is tomorrow. I take it the Shadows have a plan in place in the event that you died in front of the others."

"Yeah, they do." Artemis reached into the small black pouch she kept strapped to her left thigh and produced a small vile of green liquid.

Megan eyed the substance warily. "What is that stuff?"

"A slow-releasing poison. Sensei gave it to me. In the event that I died in front of anyone on the Team, I was to take this the minute I woke up. It'll stay in my system and keep me dead long enough to go through a funeral and burial."

"And then?" Batman asked.

"And then I pray it keeps me dead long enough for them to dig me back up so I don't have to spend an extended period of time being buried alive," she said with a shudder.

"Ras al Ghul isn't going to be happy about losing his mole."

"No, but I think I've already earned myself enough points to be inducted into the Shadows as a regular member. Hopefully that means it'll be easier for me to learn more about this big scheme they're involved in."

Batman nodded, and he silently turned away as if to mull this development over in his head. Artemis turned her eyes to Megan.

"How is everyone . . . you know."

"They can't believe it happened. Batman told all of us about your family and your double agent mission with the Shadows just a little bit ago too, so they're all a little hurt and angry that we weren't told. Kaldur thought you might have been a mole and now he feels terrible for having doubted your loyalty to the Team. Conner is wearing the guilt he feels for not having been there all over his face, and I think Robin's still kind of in shock. Plus I can tell he's really worried about Wally too."

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked, her own worry for the speedster gnawing away at her stomach.

"He's sort of devastated."

"Is he going to be okay?"

Megan shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. His mind . . . it's so fragile right now, Artemis. He's just not in a good place."

Artemis drew her knees up to her chest and laid her forehead against them. She wanted nothing more than to run to him and tell him everything, let him know that everything was okay. That he hadn't let her down, that she wasn't truly dead. But she couldn't. It would compromise the mission, and the mission came first. It'd been such an easy decision to make when she agreed to be a double agent for the Justice League. She'd wanted nothing more than to get her father out of her and her mother's lives for good. She'd had no idea back than all of the things that would transpire between her and her teammates before getting to this point, no idea the ramifications the death of a sassy, no name blonde would have on a good natured, jocular speedster. She'd tried so hard to keep from becoming friends with her teammates, tried even harder to keep from becoming more than that to Wally in order to avoid the pain that comes with losing a friend. But from what Megan had just said, all of her efforts had been for nothing.

Megan's brow creased in worry at the way Artemis's slender frame had begun to shake. She reached a hand towards the blonde. "Artemis-"

"Just go away," she whispered, her voice laced with tears.

A heavy weight suddenly landed on Megan's shoulder and she looked up to see Batman behind her, his large, glove covered hand resting on her shoulder. He nodded his head toward the door, and together they moved for the exit. Megan took one last look at her friend before Batman steered her out of the room, the door closing with a dull click.

Artemis sat on the cold metal table alone with her arms wrapped around her legs, and cried.

To be continued . . .

A/N: Phew, that was a heavy-hearted chapter. Some of you have asked in reviews how Batman and the other Leaguers in on Artemis's secret mission feel about the role she's playing since she's just a teenager. I hope this explains it somewhat. On the one hand, she and the others are just teenagers, but on the other hand they aren't your average, run-of-the-mill teens either, so it makes sense to treat them a bit differently, at least I think so. Now of course they don't want Artemis to suffer unduly (i.e. her father torturing her, etc.), but she is their best shot at finding out what is going on, and with her ability she's almost guaranteed to survive, and since she volunteered they weren't going to turn her down. I see it as a case of the safety of many outweighing the safety of one. That's the kind of thing heroes do.

And Roy finally made an appearance, sort of. Someone else had asked about that. That wasn't the last of him. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. Next chapter will be Artemis's funeral, so expect some more angst :(

SakuraJade