Chapter 11

Ms. Martian sat in the comfortable gel chair of the monitor womb, scanning over a dozen screens for alerts from countries all over the globe; an active volcano in Peru that was showing signs of life, wildfires outside of Los Angeles the League had already dispatched members to, and protests in Egypt that were being closely monitored, but her main focus was directed to the large center screen she was facing. At the moment this was the most urgent task at hand.

"So Clark and I are going to finish plowing the North 40 for Pa by tomorrow, and then Ma has a huge spread set for us afterword, you could….you know, come eat with us if you'd like. Lois is going to be there, I know they'd love to see you."

Megan smiled warmly at the junior man of steel. She could always count on Conner Kent to keep her company on slow nights on monitor duty. No strings attached, no commitments, just two good friends having a friendly chat. "Yeah right," she smiled inwardly.

Jonathan and Martha Kent were two of the kindest, most gentle and loving people she had ever met. The first time Clark brought Conner to Smallville, he instantly became family, almost everyone did when they were welcomed into the Kent home. How could she say no?

"Conner I'd love too, but please let me bring something. How about that banana pudding you like so…."

The live video chat between she and Conner instantly transferred to one of the smaller monitors as the Emergency Alert began to flash on the main monitor screen.

She sighed. "Duty calls. I gotta go. I'll call you back ok?"

"Ok, Clark and I are technically off shift, but if you need me, I'm there."

"I know," she smiled warmly. "Thanks Conner. I'll be back soon." she smiled one final time, pressed the keypad and the session terminated. Megan closed the channel and rotated over to the main monitor.

"Computer, Alert status please?"

The metallic female voice complied. Unauthorized access to Zeta Tube GC – 3. Gotham City.

Megan's brows furrowed. "Clarify, by who?"

There was a momentary pause, when the computer answered, B-01 Nightwing, attempting to override security protocols.

That was very strange. She hadn't seen Dick in months, but he had full access to the Watchtower and all Zeta Transit Tubes. There no reason for him to try and hack the system.

"Computer, define alert."

B-01 attempting to use expired code for passenger transport.

"Who's code?" she asked quizzically.

B-03 Kid Flash. Account terminated. Transit unsuccessful. Zeta Tube GC-3 locked out per security protocols.

"What the hell?" she said out loud.

xxx

Artemis threw the driver $60 and sprinted out of the cab. She was a good 20 blocks away from Gotham Memorial Hospital, but with traffic at a standstill, she had little choice.

Tidal waves of thoughts and worries crashed over her mind as she sprinted up 4th Ave. What had happened to Wally? How could she have left him unprotected in a city he didn't even know? Was he ok? Why hadn't she called to check on him as soon as she left Faden's. How had Dick found him, and what would she say to him, what could she say really?

The tone of Nightwing's message was unreadable, but she was hopeful if it had been critical or life threatening, he would have included that instead of the perceived snark at the end, fucking text messages, she cursed. She continued to dial Dick Grayson's cell while sprinting up the streets and sidewalks when to her left a car screeched to a stop, breaks screaming, driver laying on the horn as Artemis vaulted over the hood, heading towards 17th Ave.

She cursed herself for being so selfish, not only with Wally, but Dick as well. The fury she would have felt would be immeasurable if Dick had pulled what she had done. As she ran, she was reminded of the 15 year old girl introduced to group of strangers as a niece that never existed. Lies and secrets, she had thought she'd been done with them years ago. Dreading was not a strong enough word for what lay ahead.

She bolted into the main entrance of Gotham Memorial, nearly knocking over the two nurses and an orderly leaving the hospital. She ran to the information kiosk and found the Emergency Room waiting area on the second floor. Artemis caught the crowded elevator and rode it the one floor to her awaiting friend.

How do you explain a miracle, but more importantly how do you explain not sharing it, especially to a man who'd lost someone closer to him than a brother. Dick was a kind and rational friend, with her current career choices, probably her closest. She forced herself to believe he would understand. Wally was back; his best friend was still alive. That had to count for something she hoped.

She couldn't have been more wrong if she tried.

She recognized the tall brunette standing down the hall with his back turned, talking on his phone. He turned mid conversation and caught site of her. She hoped for a smile, at least some kind of relief. He closed his phone and walked towards her expressionless.

"Is he ok?" she pleaded, trying to catch her breath, "What happened?"

"Not here," he snapped and grabbed her by the arm, guiding her roughly out of the crowded waiting room and away from prying eyes. They walked down a darkened deserted hallway before he unloaded on her.

"Deathstroke happened, a sword wound right through the chest. There was a blood trail from the park to your back door. If you'd have answered your god damn phone I probably wouldn't have even tried to come over. Hopefully the rain has washed most of it away. As far as the patient, the doctor says it's stable for now."

Relief washed over her for the moment. "Dick I…I don't know what to say," she pleaded, barely listening after she heard his condition.

He let go of her arm, his face barely holding his anger in check.

Artemis took a deep breath. "God I am so sorry I should have told you, I know that, it's…it's just….."

He cut her off. "How could you be so fucking naïve? What in the hell were you even thinking? Tell me this, when we went to dinner, that night on the Exchange roof, that's who you were talking about wasn't it?" he questioned, brows furrowing. "It's been around that long?"

She hesitated nervously, searching for the right words, any words. "I …I didn't want to say anything until I figured it all out," she replied despondently.

"Figured it out," he chuckled, shaking his head as a cold smirk crossed his lips.

Dick walked away from the archer, taking a deep breath, trying to contain his anger. It lasted almost a whole five seconds before he snapped.

He spun around and got within inches of her face. "Which part? Which part were you trying to figure out," he yelled. "The part where your dead boyfriend magically comes back to life or the one about how he finds you after you've spent the last year living under aliases so deep that even your friends can't find you. Are you really that desperate, or that stupid," he spit. "I'm guessing both."

"Don't talk to me like that," she snapped back. "Right this minute isn't it more important he's still alive, he's your god damn best friend, how about focusing on that for a few."

"Maybe because that thing in there lying on the bed is not my best friend! My best friend is dead! That thing in there is a fucking abomination, a weapon someone created just like Superboy and Red Arrow were supposed to be."

"You're wrong. Do you think I'm that freaking stupid? I had Karen run his DNA."

"Oh good," he rolled his eyes sarcastically. "You had Karen working on this. She's a first year physics professor Artemis, not a microbiologist. Bumblebee's as much a fucking expert as you are a detective."

Artemis had been drowning in guilt before she walked in the hospital doors, but she could only take so much, and Dick always knew how to push her buttons. "Why are you being such an asshole, if there is even the slightest chance that's Wally wouldn't you want to…..."

"That's Not Wally!" he screamed through gritted teeth.

"How do you know?"

"Because Star Labs has been analyzing that thing's DNA for the last two hours. Because Bruce called Dr. Hamilton and he woke up the lab's two microbiologists, actual scientists on staff, to come in the middle of the night no questions asked to check it out. Because the DNA has been altered Artemis, engineered on a sub atomic level, Because they didn't trust the expertise of a rookie science teacher with a glorified masters to analyze the validity of a man's DNA who's been dead for almost two years. That's how I know! "he answered with angry emphasis.

Artemis stood speechless

"Because it's a clone god damnit. How many ways do I have to say it? It's a clone of Wally!" he yelled loudly, his face so close to her face that she could feel his breath, "and you should have told me about this the moment you saw it."

"But….." she pleaded

"Get it through your head. That thing in there is not Wally. He didn't' come back, that thing was hatched, grown, whatever."

She grasped for straws, reaching for anything that might support what she knew in her heart.

"You haven't talked to him Dick, haven't been with him. I don't know how to explain it, but….."

"Artemis that thing laying in there killed Deathstroke, you know your old partner, one of the deadliest men in the world, pulled his heart completely out of his chest. Does that even remotely sound like Wally to you? Even if somehow he had the skill, he'd never kill, and you know it."

Dick ran his hands through his hair exasperated, trying to comprehend how his friend could not see out of the tiny box she'd placed herself in. "The Light never trusted Slade to begin with; maybe killing him was part of the plan once he led that thing to you."

The room began to spin for a moment, as the realization began its impact on her.

Dick's questions and accusations were hitting her with machine gun like intensity. "Did it ask you anything? Anything odd? Anything that would give away civilian identities or locations? Anything that would put us at risk?"

No, "she mumbled, trying to focus as her world crashed around her. "He…he had no memories of anything…anyone."

"That's what it told you huh? Isn't that convenient? Didn't you find it even the slightest bit odd that less than two years after we just busted the biggest criminal organization on the planet, one that had ties and access to the top cloning labs in the world no less, that your dead boyfriend just…magically appears?"

Suddenly Dick's face went pale. "Please to god tell me you didn't call his parents; please tell me you didn't call Mary."

"I didn't call anyone Dick! You were going to be the first." She spit.

"God Artemis, you're smarter than this, I know you are. Are you that lonely, that damn desperate that you'd welcome this thing into your life because it looks or sounds like Wally without even worrying it might be a setup? How could you be so stupid?"

Artemis felt bile forming in her throat. "I swear to god Grayson, if you call me stupid one more time, you're going to be thankful we're standing in a hospital."

The distance between them kept closing, their anger growing by the second. They were staring daggers into the other when Dick's phone rang. He ignored it for a moment staring her down when he finally answered it, walking away leaving the archer fuming.

She turned and walked the opposite direction, trying to gather herself. Too much information had been thrown at her all at once, and she wasn't keeping up. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, she'd never been able to entirely shake the feeling in her gut, and that cold realization was now smacking her in the face.

She listened to the one sided conversation as Dick walked in circles. His expression grew colder, his lips pursing together tighter by the second. "Ok. Got it. I'll talk to the on-call resident one more time, and then I'll meet you up here in about an hour."

He hung up the cell and walked back to her.

"It's confirmed," he spoke emotionless

Her stomach dropped. "I ..I don't know what say." she answered heartbrokenly. She wanted to know if he was sure, but it was Dick Grayson she was talking to. He was always sure.

A doctor walk passed the hallway, stopping dead in his tracks and then walking towards the heated pair.

"Excuse me; are you the one who brought in the John Doe?"

Dick turned away from Artemis to address the doctor.

"Yeah. Is he going to be ok?" Artemis interrupted.

"He's very lucky. An inch or two either way and whatever he was stabbed with would have nicked the mitral valve or the aortic artery. We've repaired the lung, but he's going to have to stay the night for observation. I don't suppose you know anything about him? Did he say his name? Anything at all before you brought him in?"

"Doc I found him sprawled out on a sidewalk," he glared directly at Artemis. "I've never seen him before in my life."

"So you don't know an Artemis by chance? He kept mumbling that before he went under."

The archer tried to open her mouth, but Dick cut her off. "No," he replied adamantly.

"Well it's a good thing you found him. We'll take it from here. Once he's regained consciousness, hopefully he can tell us more. Thanks for your help."

Dick shook the doctor's hand. "Sure thing," and he and Artemis walked out of the hospital silently.

The rain had finally moved into midtown as the two made their way away from the hospital to the parking meter Dick's car sat next to. He turned back to the archer as the rain washed over them.

Artemis broke the silence. "What do we do now?"

"We do nothing. You go home, you've done enough. Bruce and I will handle it from here."

She swallowed hard, "'There's got to be something more. We can't just leave him here. Dick you need to run more tests."

"Oh we will don't worry. Once that thing is safely secured we will run every test, check every strand, every code until we find out the fucker who did this."

"I want in," she demanded.

"Sure, when we need an assassin, you'll be the first person we call," he answered sarcastically.

"Don't talk to me like that."

"Oh I'm sorry. I thought I was talking to Tigress, you know the gun for hire. Weren't you the one riding up the elevator to the penthouse with Faden and his girlfriend tonight? Or was Bruce referring to another Artemis, it's such a common god damn name after all. Do you really think you uncovered so hidden lead? Everyone knows who Faden works for, hell even Commissioner Gordon does and he was to work with the man every day. Did you think you'd uncovered some sort of top secret information?"

"What happened to the woman who went undercover on Manta's sub? How could you get so sloppy? You're lucky you're not dead yet. Someone went to a lot of time and effort to create this thing. We can't let something as dangerous as a speedster clone run the streets, and you were letting him stay at your place and play house. You do remember Red Arrow don't you? You remember how that turned out right. We'd known him for years and never had a clue. He was supposed infiltrate the League, what do you think that thing up there was supposed to do?"

Artemis balled her fists, "Yeah I remember, I also remember you telling me that you destroyed all the DNA samples they took of you guys at Cadmus. How'd that turn out asshole, for all I know I'm talking to another clone right now?" She argued.

"Well I guess I didn't, did I? I made a mistake. Fine! But at least I'm trying. Not hiding from my friends and family just because I lost someone close. You think it's easy doing what Bruce and I do, coming from where we came from? We don't have the luxury of finding a new mask when it gets too tough."

"Don't be a prick," she screamed. "You have no idea what it's like, what he was like."

"I'm sure it was magical, a tasty meal, a nice wine, you and the clone of your dead boyfriend snuggling, watching a movie. Did you even think of Wally while you were screw…."

Dick never finished his sentence as a vicious fist smashed into his jaw, whipping his head around so violently that he never saw the second strike that broke his nose.

He slumped to the ground for a moment before aiming a well-placed high kick that smashed Artemis directly in the mouth, her momentum slamming her into the parked car.

He rose to his feet in a fighting stance, as she traced her thumb across her mouth, pulling it away and looking at her digit covered in blood. She smiled and licked her lips.

"Congratulations Grayson, you've destroyed another friendship, and you didn't even have to fuck me to do it. Give Zee and Babs my regards, oh that's right, looks like you've just about run out of friends.

"Go to hell Artemis!"

"You first Dick."

They studied the other's body language, readying themselves for the next assault until turned and Dick got in his car and Artemis followed suit, turning the other direction and towards the street to call a cab, Tigress laughing at her the entire way.

xxx

The street lights blurred into mesmerizing streaks as the cab made its way down the roads of Gotham towards her home. An odd feeling off déjà vu swept over her as numbness once again began to takes its hold, expelling every emotion except one. The only one Tigress allowed, the one that fueled her, kept her focused, sharp. Hate.

She hated Dick Grayson. Hated his self-righteous holier than though attitude. His belief in the same bullshit moral code the Batman did, when it truth it came down to cowardice, but mainly she hated him because everything he said was right. She was a fool. She had risked her life and her mission because she had let weakness and loneliness blind her. She'd ignored logic and reason and almost let a puppet take it all away from her. She'd been targeted, put on a list like the when she hunted from. Someone was about to pay for that mistake with their lives, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be her.

She wanted her shower, her bed, her space. Nightwing and Batman would take care of the clone. She knew they wouldn't kill it, knew they would never break Batman's unbreakable rule. The clone would more than likely be placed in a secured facility. A place the League trusted. It would be tested, studied, evaluated. She had no doubt that J'onn would mindwipe it, give it a new identity and allow it to start a new life somewhere far away. The small part inside her that was briefly allowed to feel, hoped the West's and Allen's were never allowed to know of its existence, they'd suffered enough. Whatever the outcome it was the League's problem now, not hers.

The rain continued to pour as the cab dropped her off in the front of her apartment. A few blocks down the street, she could see the flashing of blue police lights and bright spotlights shining on what appeared to be a crime scene. She didn't have to guess who the victim was. She could imagine frustrated CSI agents cursing the weather as all evidence and traces of the assailant were washed away.

She felt a small sense of regret that she and Slade Wilson never got the face to face he had hoped for. If there was such a thing as an honorable assassin, Deathstroke fit the definition. He had taught her much, kept her alive in dangerous situations. In another time and place she could actually have seen them working together again, they were that good a team.

Neither of them had much love for The Light, they just paid the bills and paid well, but that of course wasn't why Tigress was there protecting Manta's son.

Betrayal was the one mortal sin Deathstroke couldn't tolerate, and that's exactly what she'd committed. There was a brief moment in time, just a few seconds when the darker parts of herself tried to convince Artemis to join him, that her old life was a lost cause and it ultimately came down to the survival of the fittest. Right now she kind of wished shed re-thought that option.

A small part of her wondered if he'd come to partner up again, clearly impressed by the deception and wanting to put their combined talents to better use. But in the end she knew better, he was going to kill her, or die trying, Slade never left a debt unsettled. The moment he paired himself with the Kid Flash clone to hunt her down, it was going to end badly for one or the other. She was satisfied with the results. Now it was time to find who paid the bills once again, and kill them like they'd tried her.

She walked around back to the small privacy fence and took out her blacklight and scanned the small courtyard. She stood relived that she saw no blood traces anywhere from where Dick had told her he'd found the clone. Thank god for the shitty Gotham weather she breathed.

She walked into her apartment cautiously, her training taking over, and searched for uninvited guests, finding it was empty. She tuned on a small lamp and stood silently staring into the den. It's books and a change of clothes sat folded neatly on the floor at the end of the couch. She'd worry about that in the morning.

Artemis walked in her room and opened her backpack. She carefully unpacked her battle suit and weapons and placed them securely into the weapons safe built into her closest. She held on to the tiger mask, staring intently at it for a few moments before placing it inside and closing the heavy safe door, listening to the locks and tumblers click into place. She still had a few weapons safely stashed in different parts of her apartment, but Tigress's main battle gear was safely stowed away The next day she would clean, sharpen and check her arrows and armaments before proceeding with the hunt for the crime boss. Business as usual she convinced herself, as the events of the last few days were willed away.

She undressed and threw her clothes into the hamper. She never even flipped on the bathroom light as she turned the shower on to its highest setting and stepped in. In minutes the small room filled with steam and Artemis stood under the scalding water trying desperately not to think of him, the real him. She could imagine that look Wally would give her when she disappointed him, the pulling of her heart strings it caused when she would hurt him. For one of the first times in the last year and a half she was thankful Wally was gone so she didn't have to face his accusing eyes for her actions and lifestyle.

He would be so disappointed in her, like he could do anything about it.

He made his choice, she made hers. For every action there is an equal or opposite reaction, he should have considered that when he ran through the Zeta Tube towards the Arctic. She knew he couldn't argue with science.

She grasped the loofa and washed every inch of her body to the point it almost bled, removing any remnants of Faden or his friend, any filth. Between the scalding water and vigorous scrubbing, her skin lit up in burning pain, it felt wonderful.

Artemis stayed like that until the temperature began to drop and she realized she had exhausted all her hot water. She stepped out and grabbed the white towel hanging on the rack and wrapped it around herself. She opened the bathroom door to head towards her room, when frantic green eyes greeted her.

She instinctively kicked the speedster into the wall and he slumped to the floor grasping the chest, and gasping for air.

"Artemis what the hell?" he whined as she stood in the door frame battle ready.

She noticed the forming blood stain on his chest, beginning to soak through the hospital scrubs he had presumably stole. She snapped back to reality, a cold reality that this was a weapon laying three feet on the floor and she was almost naked and unarmed. He could have her down and unconscious in seconds, so she had to use the only weapons currently at her disposal, deception and cunning.

"Wally oh my god I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" she begged. "What happened to you? My god you're bleeding!" she spoke frantically, stripping off her towel and pushing it to the wound. "Hold this, I'll be right back," as she ran naked to her room. She bypassed her bra and underwear and grabbed her jeans and sweatshirt, but more importantly retrieved her knife and blow darts, tucking them safely in her waistband

Wally winced on the floor finally lifting himself into a sitting position against the hallway wall. She ran back in and dropped to her knees and began the lies.

"What happened? Who did this to you?"

"I don't know, "he answered between painful breaths. "I was walking back to your place when this guy with this little dog…"

Wally began breathing harder more rapid, "He grabbed me and threw me into the park. There was a sword and he stabbed me with it and then…"

Wally's words came faster and faster bleeding into each other.

"HethrewmetothegroundandsaidIwasamessageforyouandt henItriedtopushhimoffandmyhands…"

"Wally slow down, I can't understand you." she grasped his hands to calm him.

"I killed him. I killed a man. Oh my god Artemis what have done?"

"Shhhhh It's going to be ok," she spoke calmly, her finger stroking his to soothe him.

"No its not!" he snapped as one of her hands slipped behind her back searching out the handle of the blade.

"I'm going to be sick," he spoke weakly as she reached for a small garbage can and placed in near the fallen speedster.

"Why are you in hospital scrubs?" she asked, concern dripping off her eyes, shielding the lies behind it.

"I'm not sure. I think I crawled to you apartment, some guy grabbed me and threw my in a car, and I woke up in some hospital room. I couldn't find my clothes and when the nurses left the room, I just left, but I can barely run."

"Let me see your wound," Artemis requested. She carefully lifted his shirt and pulled off the gauze and blood soaked bandages. She pulled him up gently from the wall and examined the exit wound on his back.

"The stitches on your back are holding, but you've popped two on the front. I need to re-stich them; can you stand?"

"I…I think so," he answered nervously as he groaned and she carefully pulled him to his feet, taking him to her room. Artemis sat him gently on her bed and retrieved her first aid kit.

"This is going to hurt." Wally held his breath as she inserted the hook needle into the wound and inserted two stiches into his damaged skin. Her fingers lingered a bit too long on his abdomen, before balling up into fists and pulling away quickly. She cursed herself for drifting momentarily and focused back on the target in front of her.

"Artemis what the hell am I going to do? What am I going to tell the police?"

"You're not going to tell them anything. I need you to lie down, you're exhausted and your body has been through a lot of trauma. I want you to sleep in here tonight. I'll make some calls to a few connections I have with the Gotham PD and see what they know. We'll deal with it in the morning Wally, but for now you need some rest."

"Artemis I can't just….."

"Yes you can," she said firmly, "You can and you will. Nothing's going to happen to you tonight Wally I swear, you're safe here."

It was remarkable how easy the lies came to her.

"The blood?" he protested.

"It's fine," she said tucking him in. "I've got more sheets, don't worry about it, you need to rest now." The archer carefully laid him down and tucked him in, rubbing her hands over his forehead calming him.

He swallowed dryly and nodded.

"I'll be right outside. I'm going to make a couple calls and everything is going to be fine. Just close your eyes for now. Ok?"

"Ok," he agreed, but something was wrong. He gave her the look. The look the original Wally gave her so many times in the past. The look that told her he could see past her eyes and directly into her heart. The look he gave when he knew she was lying.

He tried to hide it, but his bottom lip moved northward, his eyes moistening. She walked over and knelt down at his bedside. "What's wrong babe?"

He looked away from her, unable to meet her eyes as "I'm real Artemis. I'm…..not a copy."

"I know you are Wally, we wouldn't be having this conversation if you weren't. Get some sleep. I'll check on you after a while."

She turned off the bedside lamp and quietly pulled her bedroom door closed. Artemis sat silently on the couch watching the door, waiting to see what it would do. She had her blowgun loaded with the strongest tranq darts at her disposal. They'd either stop it or kill it. After a few minutes she leaned into the door and heard shallow breathing, only then did she take a moment to relax, then Tigress was back on the clock.

Artemis reached into her book shelf and pulled out the hidden device she had not used in over a year. She opened the Justice League communicator and entered an authorization code she barely remembered. Her I.D, was acknowledged and verified, and the archer quickly scrolled through the roster until she hit the letter B. His was the first entry. She typed in a brief message and closed it, then went outside awaiting his arrival.