Supporting Artemis as they walked forward was not an easy task for Robin. His muscles were weak and ached with each and every movement. His chest was especially sore. He wanted nothing more than to return home and sleep for a week straight, but he needed to actually make it home first. Artemis was doing her best to walk with as little of his assistance as possible, but it was clear she was in pain and having a lot of difficulty.
Upon exiting the room they'd been in. the acrobat deduced that they must be in the warehouse part of the factory. Old boxes of various sizes were everywhere, some covered in dust, some looking fairly new. Empty shelves were also all around. Who knew what Joker and his goons had been using this place for.
Robin scanned the room and saw at least three doors. He internally groaned. Why couldn't they just have a clear exit for once? With it being a warehouse, it was likely that there was more than one exit, but still. He just wanted to know which one would get them out and away from this place once and for all. Neither of them could take much more at this point.
"Hanging in there?" he whispered as he felt more of the archer's weight slump against him.
"Yeah…just a little dizzy…sorry," she spoke slowly.
Robin looked up again and decided to head for the nearest door, hoping it would be their escape. He pulled Artemis gently along with him, both of their bodies protesting.
They were nearing the door when Robin's left foot caught on something, causing him to trip and fall forward. Both the archer and the acrobat hit the ground hard, with Artemis slightly on top of Robin. He cursed himself inwardly. He'd been so focused on the door that he hadn't paid enough attention to the floor.
Artemis coughed a bit and scrunched her body into a partial fetal position, her eyes closed and teeth gritting in obvious pain.
"Sorry…about that," Robin panted, sliding from underneath the blond and propping himself up. "You okay?" The fresh trickle of blood coming out of her mouth didn't go unnoticed by him.
"Better…than ever," she answered after a moment, her voice heavy with sarcasm. It was reassuring that she could be sarcastic after all they'd been through.
"Rest a minute. I'm going to see where this door leads." Artemis nodded in response.
Robin forced himself to his feet and carefully covered the rest of the distance to the door. To his utter disappointment, it didn't lead to the outside, but to another little storage type room. The dark-haired teen resisted the urge to punch the door and yell in frustration. He did let his head lightly thump against in and sigh heavily though.
"That can't be a good sign," the archer spoke softly. Robin turned to face her. She was sitting up now, slightly hunched over with her arms wrapped around her stomach.
"This way is no good," he answered flatly. The blond archer sighed in a mixture of frustration and exhaustion at his words.
"Well, next door it is then," she said after a moment of silence between them. She then attempted to stand on her own, not wanting Robin any more stressed than he already was, but he quickly made his way over to her and slung her arm over his shoulders once more. She gave him a grateful smile in return, knowing protesting would be useless.
Before they could make a move towards the next door, loud banging began erupting from it. "Hey! This one's locked!" someone shouted, though their voice was quite muffled.
"Knock it off! They'll hear you!" came another voice.
Robin cursed under his breath and as swiftly as he could manage, whisked himself and Artemis to the door they'd just been at. He tried the knob, fearful that it would be locked, but it thankfully turned and opened. He pulled them both inside and shut the door quickly and quietly.
The room was cluttered with small crates and boxes. Robin practically dragged Artemis to the back, where there was a stack of them that would provide them with some cover for the time being. He gently set her down and then crouched down beside her. He couldn't hear what was going on outside of the room, so he didn't know if the men had made it inside already, but he hoped they wouldn't check around too thoroughly. Neither of them were in any condition to try to fight their way out again. If they were found, that would be it.
As their luck would have it, they heard the door knob turning and the door being opened. They both went rigid and scarcely dared to breathe, their hearts pounding rapidly in their chests.
"Hey boss! I don't see them in here either!" one of the men shouted. Artemis and Robin heard footsteps approaching, intensifying their anxiety.
"Oh poo," the icy voice of the Joker reached their ears. "And here I was so nice to come back a few minutes early because I missed the dearies so much." He sighed in mock sadness. "Let's check outside then. They couldn't have gotten far."
The teammates heard the duo set of footsteps walk away, but stayed tense. Even when they no longer heard any sound, they hardly dared to relax.
They waited a good few minutes before speaking. "We need to move, they'll probably come back," Robin stated in a whisper. Artemis nodded mutely as the acrobat helped her to her feet.
The pair made their way to the door that had been left ajar. Robin threw several cautious looks around before taking a step out, Artemis still leaning on him for support.
As the acrobat stepped out of the room fully, he was suddenly grabbed from his left side. He gasped in surprise as Artemis landed harshly on the ground.
"Now Robby dear. You didn't think I was quite that dumb, did you? Hiding behind some silly crates. Did you think I wouldn't notice? You made this far too easy," Joker tisked at him. Robin felt his blood run cold. How had he not heard Joker approaching? This was bad, really bad.
"Robin!" Artemis yelled. The Joker stepped on her right knee to keep her pinned down. She cried out in pain, too weak to attempt to push him off. The added pain was overwhelming to her already battered body, and she felt her consciousness slowly slipping.
"Hush for now girlie. You can be next, I promise," Joker taunted with a delighted tone as he bent Robin's left arm behind his back, making the acrobat grit his teeth in discomfort and pain. "This was such a letdown. I was hoping for much more fun."
Out of nowhere, a strong force slammed into the Joker, forcing him to release his hold on Robin and sending him tumbling to the floor several feet away. The force of the impact and sudden release caused 'Robin to stumble and he would have fallen over if not for familiar arms catching him.
"Robin! Dude, are you okay?" Kid Flash questioned worriedly.
The acrobat leaned heavily into his best friend. He felt the exhaustion getting the better of him. "KF…you don't know how good it is to see you…" his voice sounded so weak, which only worried Kid Flash further. "You need to get Artemis out, though…she's hurt…" he continued wearily.
The speedster then looked down at his other teammate, who was unconscious on the floor. He immediately noticed the dried blood around her mouth and felt more panicked.
"Artemis! Robin!" Miss Martian called as she flew up next to her teammates. She gasped as she took in their appearances. "What happened to you both…" she asked with shock and concern.
Kid Flash relaxed some, now having back up. "Don't worry dude, we'll get you both out," he spoke to Robin, hoping to give him some reassurance.
Robin didn't even care to ask how they'd found them. He was just so relieved that they had. "Careful…her…stomach…" he managed to get out before the exhaustion and the toll of all the night's events were finally too much and he passed out.
The sudden dead weight of Robin startled the speedster but he quickly steadied them both. "Whoa there, I got you." The acrobat felt too warm as Kid Flash guided him onto his back. His breathing also sounded very erratic. He knew they needed to get out of there as fast as possible. Miss Martian gently picked up Artemis, being mindful of her stomach, as Robin had said.
"Well, I spoke too soon. This just got much more interesting!" The Martian and speedster gripped their friends protectively and glared at the Joker as he stood. "Let's all have some fun, shall we?" he said gleefully as he pulled out a switchblade, a crazy gleam in his eyes.
At that moment, Batman dropped down in front of the group of teen heroes. "Get them out of here. Don't wait for me." he commanded.
"Oh Batsy! Must you always spoil everything?" Joker said, feigning offense.
"Go. Now." Batman's voice was dangerously serious and left no room argument. Kid Flash and Miss Martian took off, careful not to jostle their injured teammates too much. The Dark Knight could easily handle Joker, and it seemed he wouldn't be giving the crazed clown much mercy this time.
They made it out to Miss Martian's awaiting bioship, where she had two beds form that they gingerly laid Artemis and Robin in. Once they were settled, the bioship sped off in the direction of Mount Justice, Kid Flash and Miss Martian wanting to get the archer and acrobat tended to as soon as possible.
The horrid events seemed to finally be drawing to a close.
A/N: Thank you all again for being so patient and continuing the reviews, favorites, and follows! As always, I greatly appreciate them! I've had so much going on, but I made myself make time to update today. I hope you all enjoy!
And I sincerely thank everyone for the kind words about my mom as well. They mean so much to me. She is never far from my mind.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!