Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, DC Comics, Warner Bros., or Cartoon Network. But if I did, it'd be pretty awesome.


Chapter 2: The Museum Heist

Cheshire cursed loudly and dug around in her robe for an earpiece. At the same time she pulled out a slim black remote that Artemis didn't want to know what its purpose was.

"What the hell's happening down there?" she barked into the mic. Artemis could hear the low buzzing of panicked and angry voices responding to her. "Never mind, never mind! I don't care whose fault it is! We'll back you up, just get the diamond and get out!" She threw down the earpiece and crushed it under her heel. "Bunch of idiots," she muttered, then turned to Artemis. "Looks like the junior Justice League showed up. Could be worse, but we still can't underestimate them. I'll go in and retrieve our guys. Just stay hidden and do that archer sniping thing you do."

Cheshire took a running leap and burst through the stained glass window as though she were descending violently from the heavens. Artemis rolled her eyes and began crawling along the ceiling beams. The explosion and shattering glass masked her presence as she crept smoothly to a corner of the room and perched herself in the midsection between two high beams, watching the action below like a bird of prey. Cheshire had landed right in the middle of the wide exhibition hall where she was surrounded on all sides by the group of super powered teenagers, all of them battle ready. Artemis recognized most of them from TV and jobs; Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad stood at the forefront, though the green-skinned girl levitating above their heads was new. There was also what looked like a much younger version of Superman, if the red "S" symbol on his black T-shirt was any indication.

"Nice entrance," the Boy Wonder smirked.

Cheshire was practically glowing with anticipation, though she knew fighting all of them was not an option. "Well, there's no fun in being back-up if you don't get to show off a little." She glanced up at the rafters where Artemis was nestled.

Artemis understood a signal when she saw one. She shot an arrow into the space between the heroes and her sister. An enormous plume of smoke emitted from the arrow with a loud hiss. She could hear the teenaged heroes coughing and yelling for each other. Cheshire had flitted backwards from the smoke and reclaimed the diamond from their partners, but the teens weren't going to let her go easy. The young Superman lookalike punched the ground with an explosion of force, creating a ripple effect that dissipated the smoke. The teens charged forward to take on her sister.

Artemis shot a zip-line arrow across the ceiling. It was dangerous to stay in one position for too long or they would find her. She surveyed the scene before sliding away. Cheshire was taking on both Aqualad and Robin at the same time, dodging and weaving around their attacks with her trademark grace. Kid Flash had just been thrown backwards into a large urn and caused the polished stone to crack into several huge chunks that pinned him in place.

Artemis could hear his voice floating above the crashes and yells. "You guys have no respect for historical artifacts," Kid Flash complained.

"Dude, focus!" one of his teammates shot back.

It was a perfect opportunity. The young speedster was lying right there in the open, and she knew he couldn't vibrate his molecules through solid surfaces like the adult Flash. No time to move. No escape. Her arms acted of their own accord, reaching back to her quiver and notching an arrow. Motions she had gone through time after time.

One shot. The words still rang in her ears, skipping back and forth around her head. Focus...you can no longer be considered an asset...don't screw up. Her fingers began to shake from the strain of keeping an arrow drawn for too long. Hesitation. Since when did she hesitate?

She stopped. Eliminating the junior Justice League was not part of the objective. She was just back-up. You live to run another day, little man, she thought.

Artemis placed her bow on the zip-line, but before she could slide off something caught her eye below. She counted four super teens on the ground when there should have been five. Who was missing?

A blow from nowhere answered her question. She sailed through the air and landed clumsily on an old totem pole across the room. The Martian, of course, she's related to Martian Manhunter, she can turn invisible. Artemis realized it too late. Another unseen strike caught her from behind and sent her flying right into the fray. The Martian girl materialized and called out to her teammates. Suddenly all eyes were on her. She exchanged glances with Cheshire, who nodded and took advantage of the distraction to drop another smoke bomb. Before it could take effect, however, Aqualad leapt forward to cut down the cables Cheshire meant to escape on with the two watery blades that extended from shining tattoos on his arms. Atlantean magic was so troublesome. Their partners were already headed for the ceiling, but Cheshire and Artemis would have to find a different way out.

Cheshire seized Artemis's upper arm and dragged her through several exhibition halls until they could no longer hear the shouts from the junior heroes. Excluding two bruises from the Martian girl, Artemis was virtually unscathed, but Cheshire had obtained a fair collection of scratches along her arms and a long rip through the middle of her green tunic.

"One of those idiots grabbed the diamond from me before they split," Cheshire said in a low voice between gasps for air. "The objective has been achieved and the chopper's waiting above, but they won't wait long. If we can get through the front of the building, they'll be able to pull us up."

"Is the front our only option?"

"It's the only way our partners think we're coming," Cheshire grimaced.

Artemis glowered at her sister, but said nothing. They wouldn't have this problem if Cheshire hadn't stomped on that earpiece earlier, but petty complaints would get them nowhere. "So what now?"

"We need a distraction," she said decidedly. "But first we split up. You take the East wing, I take the West wing. If all goes well, we meet up in the entrance hall."

"And the distraction?"

"Leave that to me," Cheshire bounced the thin black remote in her hand. Artemis could practically hear the maniacal smile on her sister's lips.

Artemis bit her lip. It was a good plan, but risky. There was no guarantee that both of them would make it out with a group of young heroes blocking their way, and after checking her quiver she only had two smoke screens, one zip-line, and a few other trick arrows left. But Cheshire looked fairly confident in whatever this distraction was, and she would never lie about their chances. For once Artemis was grateful to be on a mission with her sister. If it were anyone else, they would have left her in the dust by now. Maybe family did count for something.

The sound of echoing footsteps made both girl spring to their feet and take off for their respective hallways. Artemis sprinted through a prehistoric exhibit without any trouble, but saw the Martian girl and Robin fighting Cheshire in the next room. Their fight had stretched across the museum, it seemed. She made a sharp turn and ducked through a side door to the main exhibition room from earlier. The shards of glass and fragments of pottery crunched violently underneath her running feet. Only two rooms to go.

A blur of yellow and red cut her off, sending her crashing to the floor. Kid Flash circled around the room and came flying back at her. With no time to think she let instinct take over, jumped, and managed to scramble on top of a statue that had been decapitated at the waist in the brawl. Not even stopping to breathe, she knelt into a shooting position and shot two arrows at the blur. They missed, of course. Kid Flash finally skidded to a stop in the middle of the room.

"Come on," he called out in a mocking tone. "You're not gonna hit me like that."

Immediately she regretted not finishing him off him earlier. It was stupid to waste normal shots on a target that never stopped moving. She felt around in her quiver and drew back a fresh arrow. "I guess not," she replied with a cocky grin.

The speedster reacted as she thought he would. He began running towards her to avoid the arrow, but Artemis's target was the floor in front of her. The arrow released a blast of blinding light, causing Kid Flash to stumble and run headlong into the nearest wall. Artemis shielded her eyes and burst into the main entrance hall, flushed with victory.

She could see Cheshire up ahead and was relieved that her sister had also been successful. The night air was clear and wafting through the partially destroyed front doors, which had been blown clear in the initial blast. Cheshire turned at the sound of Artemis's approaching footsteps.

"I made it!" Artemis grinned. "Let's g -"

Boom!

An explosion went off directly above Artemis's head. She had barely leapt out of the way when the ceiling caved in. The polished marble arches disintegrated into rubble. The wide stained glass windows burst like exploding flowers and mixed colored glass with the charred rubble that rained down in front of her. Immediately a line of flames sprang up in between them, effectively blocking the entrance. Surrounded by fire and stone and glass, Artemis stared in horror as Cheshire stepped calmly through the door, then turned back to look at her.

"Sorry, little sister. Didn't I say? It's every girl for herself in this family." Cheshire pulled off her mask so Artemis could get one last look at her harsh smile. Her sister's features flickered through the roaring flames. "See you on the other side." And she disappeared into the night.


A/N: Finally managed to get this chapter out! I tend to spend more time on action-based chapters. Also, today I finished my summer internship! Whoo! So hopefully I'll have much more time to work on fics before I leave for school. Stick around next chapter for some Wally perspective...