Chapter 2

Where are they?

The question became unimportant the second she felt the metal wall's texture against her exposed skin. An evil grin rested upon his face. His henchman had left the building and her alone with Sportsmaster (most likely going after Kid Flash and the rest of her team). She was alone with her father. Her father, the very idea sickened her. His voice was the one that taunted in her sleep. The one that called her a failure, compared her to her sister, told her that she would never be good enough, but she was. She was fighting on the side of the good and that was better than he had ever done. The thought made her feel a little stronger.

"Someone doesn't seem to be following orders anymore. You were told to give us information and you refused; you disobeyed and you should know how I deal with those people. It's a shame really; I thought I taught you better"

She wasn't afraid of him anymore, the hopelessness of her situation allowed her to stop being afraid, if she was going down she was going down fighting in any way that she could. Before she could stop herself she lifted up her head and spat in his face. She knew it would make him angry. She knew it wouldn't help her out of this predicament. She didn't care. She was defenseless; her bow lay close to the wall, out of reach with her one arrow readied in its notch. Tuning her thoughts out for a moment, she looked at her father—Sportsmaster—she grinned knowing she had shocked him, if only for a moment she felt free.

"Naughty girl." He growled. They were the only words that left his lips before she felt something she refused to feel ever again; fear. In his hand she saw a golden lighter gleaming in the dim moonlight, old memories resurfaced and brought up the bitter taste of bile, but she swallowed it back down. Slowly he moved it to the exposed skin of her stomach and lit it without a word, without giving her a chance to say a word before her brain stopped working and focused on the flickering flame. The sharp pain caught her off guard allowing a scream to break forth from her lips. His grin grew wider at the ear piercing sound as he moved it across her stomach leaving dark burns in its wake. Her screams grew louder with each lap the lighter made and as her screams grew so did his grin, making him seem worse than the Joker.

Through the pain though she grew defiant, it was the same defiance Sportsmaster had seen as a reason to make her into a miniature version of him; the same defiance that turned his creation against him. The same defiance that he loathed with every inch of his soul (which could be argued as it was likely he didn't have a soul), the defiance that she would rub in his face until her last breath with pleasure.

She wouldn't give him pleasure. He had controlled her life, hurt her mother, she to be the reason smiled ever again. Fighting herself, the bile that rose every time she breathed in the smoke that smelt like death and the screams that were lined up in her throat pushing to break out, she stopped them and he didn't like it. He pursed his lips into a thin line before making a sound that sounded like a tsk. Then he shoved the lighter flush against her skin until it burned through and blood began flowing out, but she didn't scream. She wouldn't let herself.

The sound that was carried towards them was one they never thought they'd hear and now that it had come it was blood curling and soul shattering. Kid Flash had just run into (I'm being literal here) Aqualad, Robin, Miss Martian and Suberboy who had rendezvoused early after escaping from evil henchmen. Miss Martian's empathy drew tears to her eyes as she gasped open mouthed at the sound and with his super hearing Super Boy kneeled in the dirt covering his ears in pain. Aqualad and Robin's eyed widen in shock and turned to look behind hoping, begging, that their missing teammate was just lagging behind the speedster and not the one emitting the scream.

"Artemis!" Wally shouted shattering their fantasy. It was now the speedsters turn to hope that it was just the scream of some unfortunate soul that their archer had finished pulverizing, but something in his gut told him that wasn't the case.

"What was going on when you left?" Robin shot at his best friend quickly.

"She was against Sportsmaster. I was going to be back in a few minutes, but it took longer to find you guys."

There was no need to vocalize what to do once Wally answered. They ran off in unison towards the source of the ear splitting sound and prayed they got there in time.

It was horrible. There was no other way to describe the scene laid out in front of them. It was simply horrible.

When the team busted through the door Miss Martian's tears slipped out of her eye. The ground in front of them was the only clean part of the floor left. Everywhere else was covered in a layer of a sticky looking substance, layers varied from thin to pools and none of them wanted to name the liquid. Blood. There was spilling all over the floor and the smell of burnt flesh hung in the air. Artemis looked close to unconsciousness and Sportsmaster grinned as he turned his head to see them. The sight of their archer held at her throat, lifted off the ground with wounds that had blood spilling from her stomach and covered in burns was the last straw. Wally was furious.

"Let. Her. Go." His voice was so much of a growl he seemed more like wild beast than a superhero.

"My pleasure," and with that he threw her across the room and she hit the other wall with a thud. By sheer coincidence, because after this mission there was no such thing as luck, she landed right by her bow and was slowly, and painfully, moving towards it.

"You're going to be sorry you were ever born." Superboy threatened darkly.

"I highly doubt that," Sportsmaster chuckled.

Wally's eyes had never left Artemis; he wonders why he was still standing still. He felt sick. Even with all her blood around she still looked beautiful and determined, but that waswhat made him scared. The two words she mouthed made him terrified.

Remember me.

I knew what he was going to say, and I didn't want him to say it. I wanted it to die with him, and to die with me. I wanted my teammates, my friends, to remember me as just that; a friend not as something evil. I wanted to die knowing they never thought me to be the mole. It was the only way. With me gone Sportsmaster would have no reason to hurt my mom, my friends. He wouldn't hurt the people I love. Although knowing his twisted mind I was never the only reason, but now he wouldn't be able to hurt. I was done letting him hurt people a long time ago, but only now did I really have the courage to stop him. It had to be done.

I took hold of my bow and aimed it at the other explosive arrow that wasn't far from another and another that formed a ring I had laid out once I had realized the mission had gone sour. The ring started at me and ended at me just like the messed up story that was my life. My eyes made contact with orbs of emerald green; Wally. He would tell the team my message, I know he would.

Remember me.

A silent tear slipped from my eye as a look of horror overcame his face. Before he could do anything stupid or try to stop me I released the arrow with only one thought.

I'm sorry I never got to tell him the truth, but I will never feel the guilt or the pain again.

"ARTEMIS!"