"…mis…up…can…me…? …mis…!"

That voice, it sounded so distant. She felt so disconnected from everything, as if her body was just floating around in some empty space. Where was she? What had happened? Why was she having so much trouble remembering?

"…mis, please…up…ok?"

The voice again, a very familiar one to her, but she couldn't quite place it. Artemis did her best to focus in on it, willing herself back into a more lucid state.

"Artemis! Answer me! We need to get out of here!"

Robin. The voice belonged to Robin. He sounded panicked though, and his voice seemed scratchy and hoarse. Perhaps that's why she hadn't recognized it at first. What could be making him sound so urgent though, the archer wondered.

"Artemis…please…please be alright…"

He sounded upset now, and there was a hint of pleading in his tone. But why would- oh.

All at once, memories rushed back to the blond archer, as well as her senses coming back to her. And boy did she feel like absolute crap, to put it lightly. It was almost enough to make her want to return to the blissful, unaware state she'd been in moments before, but a strong sense of urgency pushed her back to consciousness.

"…mmmm…" she groaned softly as her body twitched with movement. It hurt to make even the smallest motions.

"Artemis?" There was such raw hope in Robin's voice, as if he'd been expecting her to never wake up again.

With great effort, the archer succeeded in getting herself into a sitting position, slightly hunched over. Her whole stomach flared in pain and made her nauseous. She couldn't remember ever feeling this awful all at once.

"Be careful moving. I'm pretty certain you have internal damage."

The pain had nearly made her forget that Robin was there. "Are you okay?" she managed to ask him.

"I should be asking you that." His voice was serious and filled with concern.

"I'll live," Artemis answered, attempting to smirk but grimacing instead.

"Artemis." She could feel the look he was giving her.

"I'll manage," she assured him. "Don't have much of a choice, anyway," she added quietly, but knew that he'd heard her.

"Do you think you can move?" Robin asked gently.

"Yes, I believe so," Artemis replied. Moving was the last thing she wanted to do, but again, not much choice in the situation.

"Okay, good. We don't have much time. You were out for at least fifteen minutes and I'd say it's been around twenty-three minutes since Joker left. That gives us about thirty-seven minutes to figure out which key frees me and get out of here," Robin quickly explained. "Think you're up for it?"

"Of course," the archer replied, managing a small smile that she hoped was reassuring.

"Knew I could count on you," the acrobat said, returning the smile. His voice sounded very scratchy, and he began coughing heavily once he finished speaking.

"Robin…" Artemis worriedly said, slowly making her way towards him and the keys.

Robin took a few moments to catch his breath once the fit subsided. "I'm okay," he assured her. "Let's just focus on getting out of here." Artemis nodded, moving next to him, keys in hand.

The task quickly became frustrating for Artemis. It was considerably painful and difficult for her to reach the keys up to the cuffs because it stretched her stomach. She needed a moment to breathe and recompose herself after each attempt.

"It would be nice if something could just be simple for once," the blond muttered, trying key number eighteen.

"Yeah…" Robin answered. He'd remained mostly quiet, just making sure Artemis was doing alright every so often. She could tell that he wasn't doing too well himself.

Key number twenty-one brought with it the sweet sound of the cuff clinking open. Artemis nearly cried from relief and if she hadn't been hurting so much, she might have considered jumping for joy. As swiftly as her body allowed, she unlocked the other cuff. Robin sighed in relief of finally being freed and rubbed his sore arms.

"Can you walk?" We've really got to go. Only got about twenty minutes now." He hated rushing and pressuring his injured friend, but they had little choice right now.

"Let's go," Artemis responded, using the wall for support as she struggled to her feet. An intense pain washed over her and had her dropping right back down to her knees. She coughed and felt more blood come up. Her body must be in worse shape than she realized, she thought to herself.

"Artemis…" Robin said in a slight whisper. There was a trace of fear in his tone.

"You should go on without me," Artemis stated quietly. "I'm only going to slow you down." She discretely wiped the blood from her hand onto her pants.

"Not happening." Robin's tone was immediately serious and he sounded offended that she could even think he'd consider something of the sort. "I won't leave you."

"But-"

"Come on," he cut her off, sliding her arm over his shoulders and very gently getting them both to a standing position. "We're making it out of this together." He left no room for argument or opposition.

Artemis couldn't help but smile at his confidence. "You got it, Boy Wonder."

Robin smiled brightly back in return. And together, they walked through the only door in the room, not sure what exactly was awaiting them, but knowing that they wouldn't be going down without a fight.

A/N: It seems I am forever apologizing for extremely late updates. I can't thank everyone enough for continuing to read and review, it means a great deal to me.

Three days. Just three short days after I last updated, my mom suddenly died. I still can't believe it was that soon after. My mom was not in the best health, but her passing was still very sudden an unexpected. It's been very hard on my family. I have a younger sister who still lived with my mom and she was absolutely hysterical for awhile after. She had start a new school only three days after my mom's passing, so I needed to help her through that as well.

It's been six months now. It feels like forever ago and just yesterday at the same time. I miss my mom so much. I wasn't in any state of mind to write. I'm still not sure my writing is very good right now, but I'm trying to get back into it.

Thank you all so much again for the continued support. I love the feedback. And I hope you will continue to enjoy the story. :-)