Cold. That was the first clear thought and feeling to penetrate her foggy mind. Everything was so cold, and though her mind registered the vague desire to shiver, she found she couldn't.
It was taking much longer than she wanted for her senses and motor skills to return. Her whole body was numb and tingling uncomfortably. Every part of her was too heavy.
With some effort, Artemis was able to crack her eyes open. Her vision was blurry and nothing would come into focus. She allowed them to slide closed again and attempted to push herself up.
Her body made her very aware of its pain as it protested the muscle contractions. Artemis grit her teeth and made herself bear it as she shifted to a sitting position with her legs crossed and her arms out to her sides to support her. Her body was trembling slightly from the movement and cold.
"Finally awake?" a hoarse voice questioned. Artemis peeled her eyes open again and looked to her left. Her vision still refused to fully focus, but she didn't need it to for her to recognize her acrobat teammate only a few inches away.
"Robin," she stated rather than asked. She squinted a bit to make her eyes see better. Robin was slouched against the corner of a wall in a semi-sitting position. He didn't look well at all. He was noticeably pale now and beads of sweat still coated his face. Looking closer, Artemis could see him shivering slightly, though she could tell he was making an effort to keep it under control. Her own body was still trembling, trying to rid itself of the numbness and chill that it was encased in.
"I think you'll need stitches, but I stopped the bleeding for now," Robin spoke quietly.
"Huh?" Artemis asked, looking up into the Boy Wonder's face. Her mind was still in a slight daze, so things weren't quite connecting like they should, much to her annoyance.
"Your cheek. His cards are really sharp," he clarified.
Artemis brought her right hand up and gingerly touched her cheek. The fabric of gauze and medical tape met her touch. Realizing it was there made her aware of the sting of pain. The skin of her cheek also felt tighter, like it was pulled together. 'That must be how Robin stopped the bleeding,' she acknowledged. He'd bandaged it tightly so the blood couldn't flow freely out.
With the feeling beginning to return to her body, Artemis noticed she also had gauze bandaging her upper stomach where Joker had driven his crowbar into it. She lightly ran her fingers over that area as well. Where had Robin gotten the gauze though? She highly doubted Joker or anyone with him would have given them to him.
"They didn't take your belt?" Artemis blurted out as the thought came to her. Her eyes went to his waist and, sure enough, it was in place. She reached behind her and found that her bow and quiver were missing. This was odd. Why leave Robin with his utility belt and take her weapons away? Though the acrobat surely didn't look up to trying to escape, it didn't mean he couldn't and wouldn't try. "And where are we?" she said more to herself, finally taking in the surroundings: a small, dark room. No windows. There was a door down at the other end. She couldn't quite make out all of the details yet since her eyes were still adjusting. As her brain finally began to function properly again, many thoughts were flying through.
The white lenses of Robin's mask narrowed, signaling he'd closed his eyes, and he rested his head against the wall before answering. "They emptied out everything except for some of my first-aid supplies. Guess Joker wants us alive, for now." He coughed several times as he finished explaining.
Artemis scooted so that she was next to Robin. She wiped her left hand on her pants and then softly placed it on his forehead. He shuddered at the cold touch but didn't open his eyes or move away. Not surprisingly, his skin was heated. Even accounting for the fact that her hand was cold and would be more sensitive to heat, he was still warmer than he should have been. She brought her hand down to his cheek and felt the same heat radiating from it. His skin was clammy from the sweat.
"Fever," Artemis murmured mildly, moving her hand away. Robin nodded weakly in response. Now that she was more near him, the archer noticed a small gash on the side of his head where Joker had struck him. A small amount of blood had dried around it and Artemis was sure the area would bruise. "Do you have more gauze? Looks like you could use some patching up, too," she told him, concern evident in her voice.
Robin fumbled with one of the side pockets and produced a roll of gauze and some medical tape. He lifted up his hand and held the items out to Artemis. She took them from his grasp and Robin let his arm fall limply into his lap.
The blond unrolled the gauze and tore a piece form it. She folded it to make it thicker and so that it would cover the length of the gash. Taking the folded piece, Artemis pressed it lightly to the cut. Robin hissed a little at the pressure, but didn't protest. "Sorry," she whispered. She disliked making him more uncomfortable than he already was, but a head wound was not something to be ignored.
Keeping, the gauze in place with her left hand, Artemis picked up the rest of the roll with her right. She slipped it under her thumb, atop the thickened piece, and began to wind it carefully around her teammate's head.
Without having to be asked, Robin shifted and leaned forward so that Artemis could wrap around the back of his head as well, for which she was grateful. His body leaned a bit into hers as she worked, allowing her to feel his shaky breaths and the small shivers that ran through him. This caused her to form a frown.
She circled the gauze around three times, not too tightly, but enough so that it would keep light pressure applied. Artemis secured it in place with a couple of strips of the tape and checked to make sure she hadn't missed any other injuries.
"Thanks," she heard Robin mumble wearily as he slumped back against the wall, giving her a small smile.
"You're welcome," she replied, offering a small smile back. "I need to thank you, too," Artemis said, touching her bandaged cheek again. Even being this sick, he had still tended to her injuries first.
Robin's lips parted to answer her but he quickly covered them and turned away as harsh coughs shook him. Artemis watched with unease, wishing she could do something to help. She could only imagine how painful the coughs were. His voice sounded more raw each time he spoke.
Robin panted and shivered for a moment once the coughs left him. His hand pressed lightly against his chest as he attempted to regulate his breaths.
Artemis knew she had to get him out of here. This room was much too cold. Clean, she noted, but cold, and the longer he had to stay in here, the worse he would likely become. She gazed around the room once more, taking in more details this time. The floor was tile and the walls seemed to be brick. That explained why the room was holding its constant chill. There was no ventilation system, so no possible route of escape that way. The only opening into and out of the room was the door at the other end…
She had to at least inspect it, so, using the wall for support, Artemis shakily began to pull herself to her feet.
Her legs disliked the notion of supporting her weight and she had to lean heavily against the wall for a second to keep her knees from buckling. She wrapped her right arm around her torso as small pain coursed through it.
When she was mostly sure that she wouldn't fall flat on her face, Artemis pushed off of the wall and tested her balance. Her legs still tingled a bit, but she could manage. She eyed Robin. His eyes were closed and his hand had slid back into his lap. His breathing was deeper and more even as he leaned into the wall.
Artemis smiled a little to herself, despite their predicament. At least he could rest, even if only for a short while.
Her face became serious again and began to make her way to the door. She had already noticed that her communicator was gone, so she couldn't contact the rest of the team or the League for any help. She and Robin were on their own for now.
Being that the room wasn't all that big, it took Artemis little time to reach the door. It was a normal wooden one, judging from its appearance, with a single doorknob. Dim light ebbed its way in from around the door. There were no wires or chains around it as Artemis had been expecting. That didn't mean it wasn't boarded and chained on the other side, though. But the light streaming in wasn't being cut off anywhere, she noted looking around the door again, so that meant nothing was across it. Was it only locked? The archer reached out her fingers to grasp the doorknob.
Immediately she regretted it.
Pain erupted from the contact and spread throughout her body. The blonde's muscles seemed to gain minds of their own as she violently jerked back and fell hard to the floor.
'Stupid stupid stupid!' was what she thought as she landed in a heap with every part of her cringing, tightening, and convulsing against her will. Everything was searing with hurt and Artemis scrunched her eyes closed and gritted her teeth together as much as she could to keep from yelling out in pain and frustration. Pained grunts still managed to escape her clenched teeth.
"Artemis? Artemis!" Robin's startled voice called to her. She tried to respond, but her body was still twitching uncontrollably and bringing pain with it. All that came out was a noise somewhere between a groan and a scream.
Artemis forced her eyes open half way when she felt gentle pressure on her right bicep a minute later. "It'll pass, just breathe," Robin told her calmly as she tried to focus on him. He was kneeling down beside her. The young archer nodded stiffly, reclosed her eyes, and attempted to take deep breaths.
It seemed to take forever, but gradually her muscles began to relax, the spasms died down, and the pain started to fade.
"I-I'm okay," she told the Boy Wonder, finally able to speak. Artemis sighed in relief. Her body was aching and sore, but nothing compared to what it had been, nothing she couldn't deal with. "That was stupid of me, sorry," she said as she sat up. Getting tazered from a doorknob. The young archer was a little annoyed with herself. She should have been much more cautious.
"Let's move away from the door," the acrobat said in a serious tone, eying it as he stood. He didn't trust that the door didn't have any more 'fun' surprises in store for them.
Artemis stood as well, not too trusting of what could happen next either. She didn't feel very steady on her feet, but she didn't fall over, so that was a good sign.
Robin began walking in front of her, but he was swaying a little and it looked to be taking all of his strength to stay up at all. Her own pain quickly forgotten, Artemis went to his side, draped his right arm around her shoulders, and wrapped her left around the middle of his back, letting him lean his weight onto her. The blond frowned at the heat coming from his body.
"Don't strain yourself," she told her teammate quietly. Artemis helped him walk back to the other end of the room and gently slid him down to rest against the wall again. She sat down next to Robin and felt his forehead, confirming what she'd already suspected. His fever had gone up. Not drastically, but a fever rising at all was never desirable.
"Can you get any signal?" the young blond asked, indicating Robin's gloves where his computer was stored, hoping for some glimpse of hope. Escape currently seemed very unlikely, but she wouldn't give up until they exhausted every last possible option.
"It's busted," he said as his eyes drifted down to his gloves and Artemis didn't miss the small amount of frustration in his voice. Several coughs followed his words.
Artemis really wanted to use the Joker's ugly face as a punching bag for an hour or two right about then. They had no means of communication and the only way out of this dang room was a stupid, regular door that they couldn't even touch. She was extremely irked.
Resisting the urge to sigh, Artemis fixed her gaze on the young acrobat who appeared lost in his own thoughts. "What do we do now?" she nearly whispered.
As if on cue, some commotion from the outside, near the door, drew both of their attention. Sounds of things being moved and thrown reached their ears and then slowly, agonizingly slowly, the knob turned and the door began to open.
Bruce Wayne exited the company building, glad that all the meetings had at last been taken care of. He had been in one meeting after another throughout the week, but they were over a day sooner than he had anticipated, so that was a small something to be grateful for.
His phone vibrating in his pocket brought him out of his thoughts. His eyes narrowed slightly at the caller ID and he made sure he was out of the earshot of any passerby and out of their sight before answering. The fact that it was nearing four in the morning meant that there really weren't many people around, but he was not one to take chances.
"Mast Bruce, thank goodness I was able to reach you," Alfred's distraught voice came through before Bruce could speak. He could instantly tell something was very wrong from the way the older man was speaking.
"Alfred, what is it?" Bruce questioned becoming very serious. He already had a sinking feeling about why the butler was calling.
"Master Bruce, Master Dick has not returned from patrol and I have been unable to contact him. His signal has disappeared from the trackers as well," Alfred worriedly explained.
Sometimes Bruce hated when his feelings turned out to be right.
Thank you so much everyone for all of the reviews, alerts, and adding to your favorites! That was much more feedback than I was expecting! You all overwhelmed me hehe. I appreciate it more than I can tell you!
I wanted to have this up sooner, but I had so much work and had to pull an all nighter Tuesday to get it done. I worked on it every free second I had though to get it up asap. :)
To the reviewers that asked: No, this is not a Robin and Artemis pairing. Sorry if I misled you, but this is strictly friendship between them and support as teammates. I will only pair Artemis with Wally. [I really love that couple x) ]
Thank you all so much again and I would greatly love to hear more from you!
And I forgot to put this last time: Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story and I am making no profit from writing about them!