Her head pounded as she came to. Really, her whole body was pulsing with pain. Even breathing was causing a sting. Artemis didn't want to move, didn't want to open her eyes, but consciousness was nagging at her. She began to inhale to take a deep breath, but quickly realized that something was…restricting her chest from expanding? Artemis snapped her eyes open and looked down at her body.
Chained. She was chained down onto what seemed to be a table. And the chains just barely left her enough room to breathe. She struggled against the binds, making her very aware of her stiff neck and shoulders, but they were much too tight and the archer had to relinquish her efforts. She wouldn't be escaping from these on her own.
Artemis rested her head back down and sighed. She had to keep calm. Constant struggling would only exhaust her and she needed her energy right now. The blond turned her head to the right and gasped at what met her eyes.
Robin was chained to the wall in the corner, his arms above his head and his body slumped forward. It was apparent that he was unconscious. The only thing that slightly relieved Artemis was that she could tell he was breathing.
"Robin!" she managed to croak out. Her voice was hoarse and her throat felt dry and raw. Thinking about it, neither she nor Robin had had anything to drink in a while. Yet another reason for her to worry. Robin really didn't need to get dehydrated on top of being sick. "Robin!" the archer tried again, achieving a little more loudness.
Her calls did nothing to stir the young acrobat. He remained motionless, oblivious to the world around him. The blond cursed silently to herself. She could only hope that Joker hadn't done anything to further injure Robin while she'd been out. She couldn't see any new injuries on him, but there wasn't exactly good lighting in the room and one never knew for sure when Joker was involved.
Artemis wondered how long they were going to be left alone in this room. On one hand it was good that they were being left alone for the time being. On the other, the longer they were stuck in there, the worse Robin would become and they wouldn't have much chance for escape.
The young archer didn't have to wonder for very long. A door opening to her left caught her attention. Artemis couldn't help the scowl that formed as the sneering face of the Joker entered her view. Suddenly, the thought of being left alone for a while longer didn't seem so bad.
"Ah good. The little archer is up," Joker commented with his lips stretched into a sickening grin. He shut the door behind him and walked calmly to stand between Robin and Artemis. "Let's wake the Bird Boy to join our fun," he said as he turned his gaze upon the dark haired teen.
"Don't touch him!" Artemis growled out. Her desire to protect her teammate added strength to her voice. The young blond again struggled uselessly at her binds. "Leave him alone!"
"Now now, you wouldn't want dear little Robby to miss out on anything, would you? That just wouldn't be fair," Joker patronized as he crouched down next to Robin and poked his cheek none too gently. There was no response. The smile faded from the crazed clown's face and he poked the teen roughly several more times in succession, jostling Robin's head. Still he remained motionless. Artemis was tensed on the table, hating that there wasn't anything she could do to help at the moment.
"Well this just won't do," Joker complained, his sickening grin returning. He gripped Robin's chin in his left hand and lifted his head. "I need you awake Boy Blunder!" the Joker laughed out as he raised his right arm, poised for a backhand strike.
"Stop! What're you—" Artemis began to yell, her whole body straining against the chains.
The resounding echo of the slap throughout the room cut her short. She stared in silent horror at the mark rapidly forming across Robin's right cheek. Joker smiled victoriously as the acrobat grimaced and then groaned softly, slowly regaining consciousness.
"That's it, look alive bird for brains," the clown taunted, lightly slapping Robin's cheek a few times more, causing him to grit his teeth. "Can't have you missing any of the show." With that, Joker relinquished his hold and stood back up. Robin settled back against the wall with a few light coughs. He attempted to work some of the kinks out of his stiff neck and shoulders, but it was obvious he couldn't get very comfortable with his arms still suspended in the air. Artemis badly wished she was free in that moment to be able to help in some way.
"Now that we have an audience, things can get started." Joker's voice brought them both back to the present. Robin finally lifted his head up. He looked at Artemis long enough to assess that she was fairly ok and then turned a heated glare to the Joker. The crazed clown was completely unfazed and walked over to the corner furthest from them. He bent down and appeared to be searching through something. They heard some clanking and Artemis had a sudden sinking feeling that this was going to end very badly.
"Your friend has been quite uncooperative Robby dear. What do you say we teach her to be a good little girl?" a grinning Joker questioned as he stood up and turned to face the young heroes. Artemis felt her stomach sink further as she laid eyes on the steel pipe in his hands.
"Leave. Her. Alone," Robin commanded, put emphasis on each word. He had the most hateful look Artemis had ever seen. She watched him pull at the restraints around his wrists, but to no avail.
Joker let out a chilling cackle, walking closer to the archer. "You're in no position to make demands," he said eerily as he ran the pipe along the length of Artemis's leg. The blond involuntarily shuddered.
"Joker, just let her go and do what you want with me." There was the slightest hint of pleading in the acrobat's tone. It was apparent he was scared for his teammate and whatever that psycho had planned for her.
The clown prince of crime pretended to consider the plea. "As tempting as that sounds Boy Blunder, I'll have to pass," he answered, his grin stretching even farther. He gripped Artemis's chin in his hand. She attempted to wrench away, but that only made him painfully tighten his hold to still her. "Hurting her will hurt you more." The satisfaction was clear in his voice.
"Joker no! Let her go and you can do anything with me. I won't resist." Artemis could tell Robin was on the verge of panicking. He was trying to bargain with the Joker, of all villains! Part of her felt honored and humbled that he was willing to go to that length to try to protect her, though she figured he'd do it for all of his teammates if they were in this situation. The other part of her was growing more and more fearful because of how desperate Robin was to not let Joker follow through with whatever he was planning for her. It made it more real that this was going to end badly for her.
The Joker released his grip on the blond, complete ignoring the dark haired teen. He crouched down and seemed to be fiddling with Artemis's restraints. When he stood back up, he was holding a few loosened chains. He tossed them over the table and they clattered to the floor. The young blonde's midsection was now completely exposed. She tested the binds again for any weaknesses, but they continued to hold her firmly in place.
Without warning, the Joker slammed the pipe down solidly into the young archer's stomach. She gasped in shock and pain, her body arching up as much as it was able. The blow had completely knocked the air out of her and she struggled to get it back, the strangled sounds filling the room.
"Artemis!" she heard Robin's panicked voice shout. Next to her, the Joker laughed in delight. She struggled to breathe properly again and keep her body from forcibly projectile vomiting.
Just when she was starting to get a tiny bit of control back over her body, Joker brought the pipe down into her stomach again, much harder this time. Artemis couldn't help the strangled scream that tore from her throat. She had never been struck that hard in the stomach before. She could hear Robin yelling, but was too disoriented to make out his words. The pain pulsed from her midsection throughout her whole body, making it nearly impossible for her to concentrate on anything else.
"Having fun?" Joker whispered in her ear. The blond couldn't even find the strength to open her eyes in that moment, much less retort. She coughed, trying to catch her breath, and to her alarm, her mouth filled with liquid. The coppery taste was unmistakable: blood. The archer turned her head to her right and coughed a few more times, allowing the blood to spill out, not wanting to choke on it.
"No…" Robin gasped out in horror at the scene before him. "Artemis, no! Joker stop this!" he shouted in desperation.
"You should know I won't end our fun this soon Bird Wonder," the Joker answered back with amusement in his tone. Artemis heard clanking and felt the pressure from the binds relieving. She tried to move to sit up, but that only resulted in pain shooting throughout her body and she quickly stopped. "We're just getting started!"
The chains fell away from Artemis's body and pooled on the ground around the table. Joker firmly gripped the blonde's ponytail, causing her to grit her teeth and grunt, and none too gently drug her off the table. She hit the floor and cried out, but the clown continued to pull her along by her hair. Once he had Artemis placed in front of Robin, he dropped his hold. The young heroine groaned in pain, but made no attempt to move from the position.
"Let's make this more interesting kiddies," the Joker stated, digging in his pocket. He produced a ring that had to have at least thirty keys. He tossed it so that it landed between Robin Artemis. "One of those unlocks your cuffs Wonder Boy. If you can get free, we can have a nice little game of hide and seek. If not, I'll make the little arrow here pay me in limbs," the crazed clown explained, nudging the archer with his foot as he mentioned her. She groaned again softly and a little more blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth.
"You'll pay for this," Robin practically snarled, giving the Joker his best version of the Bat glare. He was pale, sweating, and had a feverish flush, but the look was threatening nonetheless.
The Joker cackled in delight. He reached down and pulled Robin up by his hair so that they were eye to eye. The acrobat grit his teeth together; he wouldn't give the psycho the pleasure of hearing him make any noises of pain. "We'll see Bird Boy, we'll see," Joker taunted darkly. He roughly released the young hero, making him hit the wall with a small thud. "You have one hour. Don't disappoint me Wonder Boy."
With that, Joker walked out the door and slammed it shut, leaving Robin alone with a barely conscious Artemis.
If they couldn't win at Joker's 'game,' they were going to end up paying the highest price. Robin wasn't willing to let that happen.
A/N: Hello there everyone. I apologize for the extremely long wait again. I really did not want to make you all wait so long, but I had no choice. Very shortly after I updated the last time, my husband had to be admitted to the hospital again and was there for awhile. He had 3 more surgeries and things were crazy. But we are back home again now and he's doing much much better. :) I wanted to update sooner when we got home, but we've been drowning in appointments and paperwork along with everything else. Some day things will calm down haha.
Thank you all so very much for the reviews, favorites, alerts, and well wishes for my husband! They mean so much to me and I really love reading your reviews and knowing what you think!
**Also, I forgot to mention last chapter: My very dear friend did a drawing for chapter 3 of this story. Her name on devianart is Dream-Piper. She is a wonderful artist. My other dear friend also has some amazing art of Young Justice up. Her name on devianart is ActionKiddy. She has a drawing up of Artemis as Batgirl with Robin beside her. It's so awesome! They are both really really outstanding artists, so check them out if you'd like!
I hope to have the next chapter up sooner rather than later. Thank you so much for the continued support and I'd love to hear what you think!