Okay. I got this one up as soon as I could for you guys. There may not be another chapter for a couple of days. So enjoy.
The entire League and team were gathered in the Cave. Batman had called a meeting. All that was known was that Artemis had been found. Everyone had been relieved by that news. However that was all they knew. She wasn't present at the Cave and Batman hadn't supplied any further information. The initial relief had been replaced by worry and fear. If Artemis wasn't here where was she? These feelings had increased when Batman and Black Canary had arrived. Robin had been sent ahead of them with orders not to talk about anything. Batman had come in first and disappeared down towards the hanger. Black Canary had headed straight for the computers. Neither had spoken or looked at anyone. Superman and Green Arrow had tried to get some sort of response from either of them but had acted as if they didn't even exist. Now the league and team were left waiting around in spare chairs that had been gathered for the meeting. All waiting and hoping that the only two people who had the information they all needed would snap out of their strange ignorance and talk to them.
Batman had gone down to the hanger to think. He didn't want to deliver this kind of news. Batman might have been able to deal with this but right now he was just Bruce Wayne. Indeed he was sitting in a secluded part of the hanger with his cowl and cape off. He held them in his hands staring at them.
Replaying through his head were the doctors words... "She is going to need a lot of help... We won't know much more until she wakes up... We don't know when she will wake up... It's a good thing that your son found her when he did..." They were all out-of-order. He couldn't recall whether he had corrected the doctor about Dick or not. It didn't seem to really matter. The doctor had been young. Too young. He seemed to care about Artemis and her recovery though. That was enough because Artemis was what mattered. At different times her accusing voice rang through his head. Words from the other night that he suppressed every time they came to the surface. Because they were true.
He could still see her screaming about trust. About how they didn't trust her with their lives they way she had to trust them with hers. It was true and ever since then he had been questioning his decisions. They had all proven that they could be trusted hadn't they. Time and again they had saved each other and hadn't backed down. They all trusted each other or so he thought. Did they all hold reservations about his lack of trust and if they did why had no one else said anything before? He knew why. He wouldn't have listened to just anyone saying it. It had to be someone in a situation with almost nothing to lose. Someone who wasn't afraid to tell him the truth. He just wished that it wasn't Artemis.
Having come to a decision on how to proceed, Batman stood and replaced his cowl and cape. As he walked out he paused. It was in this hangar that the team had first revealed how close they had become in such a short time. It had been after the incident with the reds. The League had finally been able to get in to the Cave and had discovered the team unconscious in the Hanger. Everyone but Artemis had been coming around when they had entered. Superman had been the one to try to wake her up. Once the others had come round they had quickly noticed that Artemis was still unconscious. Though they had all started to speak about what had happened none of them had been able to take their eyes of Artemis. Even the League members had been watching. As soon as she had started to come around they all looked away. Thinking about it later he had smiled. Now though all he could think about was what the doctor had said earlier and how it explained so much. Too much. So he continued his way to the Control room.
When he entered the room everyone snapped their heads to look at him. He didn't know how long they had already kept them waiting, only that it was longer then they deserved. Two faces stood out from the crowd. Dick was glaring at him. He had been waiting the longest. The other was Conner. He seemed to be torn between jumping up and demanding answers or running away and never having to hear about what they had done to Artemis. He seemed to have settled for sitting tensely on the edge of the couch and staring at Batman. It was slightly unnerving.
Batman looked around the room for Black Canary. He looked even though he knew that she would be sitting at the computer monitors studying Artemis's x-rays. The ones she had taken. The ones she had never gotten around to reviewing because of everything going on. He knew that as much as everyone in this room felt guilty, Canary felt it worse than most. She had the power to see the problems but hadn't made it a priority. So now she was sitting there studying x-rays that had already given an answer. An answer he was afraid to give to everyone. The guilt levels were about to go up and he knew he would have a hard time convincing some of them to leave the past alone. Because right now there focus had to be Artemis. She had to be the priority.
So he approached Black Canary. Looked at the x-ray she was studying, it was the one she had taken of Artemis's ribs. Somewhere he could hear the doctor talking about Artemis's less serious medical problems. The ones that weren't so bad. He and Canary had both disagreed with him about them being less serious. As far as they were concerned it was all life threatening. Even though he would rather get lost in the x-rays then talk about them he had to. So did her. So he placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke to her.
"It's time. They have to know. We need to tell them."
Black Canary stood up so fast she knocked the chair to the ground. She whipped her body around to face Batman. It was the first time she had moved since they had arrived. And she was in tears. Batman didn't look around for help; he just waited for her to say something.
"You tell them." It was harsh and her voice was raw. All Batman could do was sigh.
"Staring at them won't change the outcome."
"Yeah but maybe if I had stared at them earlier this never would have gotten this far." As she spoke Batman did something no one expected, he pulled Canary into a hug.
"It still won't change it or help Artemis." Black Canary returned the hug knowing perfectly well that what he was saying was true and that he had to keep reminding himself of that fact so that it didn't weigh him down. The hug that took everyone else by surprise was no surprise for Canary. Living in Gotham had its advantages, even if it meant living several hours away from Ollie. Brotherly Batman was someone you wanted on your side.
"Is there something I should know about?" Green Arrow interrupted the moment.
Batman pulled away from the hug and stalked over to Green Arrow. Dick was sitting there wanting to laugh so hard that he would fall of the couch. If Artemis was here she would be too. He made a mental note to show her the footage later. As it was Green Arrow was cowering slightly as Batman in all his caped glory loomed over him before he spoke.
"Yes there is. Hurt Canary or Artemis and I will break you. My town, my people, my responsibility." His voice was deep and harsh. Green Arrow was staring opened mouthed at him. A small smirk appeared on Batman's face as he moved away to take a sit at the odd-looking circle that had been formed by everyone.
As soon as they were all seated everyone turned to Batman. When he didn't start immediately they turned to Black Canary. The group realised that they were staring at a space created on the couch that Conner had brought to the room. There was a space large enough for Artemis to have sat between Conner and Kaldur. As the group sat staring at the space a small smile crept on to Batman's face. He reached up and removed his cowl. Then he cleared his throat. Everyone spun round to see Bruce Wayne staring at them. The others wearing masks followed his cue and removed theirs. Even Robin.
"Everyone we have a lot to talk about... it's just hard to know where to begin." He spoke staring at the floor in front of him.
"How about at the beginning?" the Flash asked.
"How did you find her?" Red Arrow followed up with.
"Where is she now?" Green Arrow wasn't far behind.
"Is she all right?" Conner was the last to speak; his was the question whose answer concerned everyone the most.
"Well last year I gave Artemis a scholarship to the Gotham Academy. The same school that Dick attends so maybe he should begin." Batman spoke and looked towards the unmasked Robin. It was only when he spoke that some of the group realised who he was talking about.
"Well today when Artemis showed at school I tried to track her down. My best shot was at lunch. I did end up finding her but the group of students that have been attacking her found her first."
Dick couldn't continue from this point. All he could see was Artemis lying on that hospital bed.
"An ambulance was called for her. She is currently at Gotham City's Mercy Hospital." Black Canary gave them the next piece but stopped too. By this time both she and Bruce were thinking about Artemis in the hospital. The vulnerability that was on display from the unconscious person in front of them.
"Okay. What else?" Green Arrow prompted.
"Well at the time Dinah, Alfred, Selina and I were meeting with the Police Commissioner of Gotham. He helped us fast track mine and Dinah's guardianship of Artemis. He has promised to look into her Mother's death and the incident at the Academy personally. Not that he has much choice; the press is going to eat them all alive. Oh for those of you who don't know Dinah is Black Canary, Alfred's my butler and Selina is Catwoman who is now a Hero. Apparently."
Everyone stared at him for a moment.
"Okay and the reformed Cat burglar is where exactly?" Hal Jordan asked rather sceptically.
"Currently she and Alfred are at the hospital with Artemis. I know it's fishy but she really seems to care about Artemis and she was great help with the Commissioner." Batman finished but didn't continue.
"So what part haven't you told us about yet?" Green Arrow spoke softly. He was looking at the floor waiting for the news. Expecting the worst, hoping for the best.
"The part where the doctor kicked me out of the room so they could have an adults only talk." Dick announced. He was glaring at them full force now, still waiting.
"Well if that's the case maybe the kids should leave for this part?" Diana announced.
"What we have just as much right to know as you do?" It was Billy, he had transformed back when the others had dropped their masks.
"Before the inevitable argument, Black Canary and I as Artemis's guardians have already discussed this. The pros and cons of having the kids know. We came to the conclusion that having the others know is better than sending them in blind. There her friends and as mad as Artemis will be when she finds out we believe it is in her best interests and theirs."
As soon as Batman finished the Flash spoke up.
"That's great and all but as Wally's guardian in this group telling him or not is my decision. Not yours."
Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and The Icon nodded in agreement.
"You don't understand. Artemis isn't going to just recover and everything will go back to how it was before. There is no going back, not now. This affects the team as much, if not more than it affects everyone else here. It's not that we have a right to make that decision for them. They deserve to know. Have a right to know. To at least make that decision for themselves."
The group was staring at Batman. Unsure of what to say or do. If it was that bad could they really keep it from the team?
"Is it really that bad?" Conner asked what everyone was thinking.
Batman sighed before he started. Black Canary placed one of her hands on top of his. The other she placed in Green Arrow's hands.
"As the doctor put it we'll start with the non and less life threatening injuries. Artemis has a small cut on her forehead and severe bruising to her entire body. Most of this was sustained during the beating she took today at school. Luckily she has no internal bleeding. However there are other more pressing problems. Most of her ribs are cracked; there are breaks in her left arm and right leg. She has greenstick fractures in her hands, shoulders and face. The combination of fractures and bruising has resulted in severe swelling." Batman paused. He didn't want to continue and the stunned silence was horrifying.
"I take it that's where the good news ends." Wally said bluntly, Black Canary nodded in response.
"Artemis has suffered severe exposure. It seems that some time ago Artemis's apartment had the power cut to it and even though it is still fairly warm inside she has been staying in a rundown building near Gotham Docks. The cool weather combined with a lingering chest infection to make her extremely sick. Because her body was already run down the cut she sustained the other day is already infected. The Hospital is trying to bring her body temperature up as we speak. They are running antibiotics into her and hopefully that will clear up the infection. Unfortunately the added pressure from her rib injuries is making it hard for her to breath. They don't want to but they may have to intubate her. This will make it easier for her to breath." Batman stopped again. The worst of it meant telling them about the x-rays.
"That's not all is it?" Red Arrow asked. No one wanted the answer but it was obvious that there was something else.
Instead of answering Batman pulled out a small remote. He pressed one of the buttons and a large 3D copy of Artemis's x-rays appeared in the centre of the circle.
"These were taken before all of the injuries I have just listed came into existence."
Batman let that sink in. The image in front of them wasn't something nay of them wanted.
"How?" Diana asked for everyone. How could one person, one child have so many fractures at such an age. A few had an idea but didn't voice it. They didn't want to be right.
"Well the Hospital did its own scan of Artemis to find the broken bones. When they noticed the healed breaks in her wrists, arms, legs, shoulders and feet they called other hospitals in the Gotham area. They were able to track record's going back to when Artemis was five of a child matching Artemis's description with similar injuries. In total they found forty-three reports. None of which were reported to any authorities." Batman let that sink in before continuing. He hadn't told them the part that was causing the most problems now.
"Who did this?" It was Green Arrow, he sounded absolutely livid.
"In all cases, the girl appeared with a man matching Sportsmaster's description. I was also able to verify that the one's before her Mother went to prison all occurred at times when Huntress took on solo jobs around the world. The doctor says that the injuries stop about the time Artemis's Mother kicked Sportsmaster out. The doctor said that while they were able to find forty-three reports they believe that there is more. Some of the breaks occur so often that they have said it is impossible to determine how many have occurred." Batman broke off to look at the others before he continued.
"Now I know you are all plotting ways to get Sportsmaster for this but we do not kill. This league is not to be used as a vehicle for revenge. Artemis has shown during her time with us that this is not what she wants and we will respect that. Is that clear?"
He looked closely at Green Arrow, Red Arrow and Diana. All of them had gone to stand. They were now all glaring at him.
"I didn't say that you had to treat him with the same standards that we treat or other enemies. I just said don't kill him and don't go overboard." Each of them sat down. The truth was it had taken all his self-control not to leave the building and hunt Sportsmaster down himself. There would be time for that later.
"Why haven't you mentioned the head injuries?" Superman asked. He had waited for one of them to mention it but it looked like they didn't want to. Many of the others looked at the head x-ray and noticed for the first time several healed fracture lines. Batman and Black Canary looked at the floor.
"Since she was five Artemis has suffered three skull fractures. Today she suffered her fourth. The fracture hasn't broken skin or damaged her brain. However the force that someone used to break her skull may have caused brain damage."
"May have?" Green Arrow was able to choke out when Batman finished speaking.
"They won't know until Artemis wakes up. At the moment she is in an induced coma. The doctors will bring her out of it soon. When they do she should just wake up on her own. Until then any brain damage and its significance will be unknown."
"So does that mean she already has brain damage?" It was Captain Atom who spoke he had been quiet for most of the meeting.
"According to the reports the doctor was able to dig up there was none of any significance. With any luck that will be the case here."
"Are you going to move her here?" Dick asked.
"Eventually. When she is out of the coma and the infection is gone we will organise to have her moved to a private recovery facility. By that time it will be holidays and no one will question the move. Until then all we can do is be patient and wait for Artemis to recover."