Dick was in the middle of one of his rare moments of peace and quiet, which in this case consisted of watching a horror movie with his father and Wintergreen, when his phone rang. The acrobat was on the verge of rejecting the call but quickly changed his mind when he noticed that it was Jade who was calling him. He accepted the call and walked a bit away, absentmindedly noticing that Slade paused the film, and he brought the phone to his ear. He was ready for a joke but was immediately preceded by his older sister's frantic voice.

"Dick! Oh my God-please! You have to help me!"

His older sister's panicked voice sent chills down the Talon's spine and he straightened up, immediately abandoning all trace of levity. "Jade, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" he asked, masking the panic that threatened to overwhelm him.

His tone was so serious that he felt Slade's and Wintergreen's fixed gaze on his back but for now he ignored them, concentrating on the voice from the other phone line that continued to speak.

"It-it's Artemis!"

"What-"

"Artemis has been kidnapped!"

Dick froze in place and opened his eyes wide before returning to serious mode. "Jade, listen to me for a moment. Take some deep breaths-"

"How can I when my sister has been kidnapped?" she blurted out abruptly in panic.

"Close your eyes, listen to my voice and take deep breaths." Dick instructed her firmly. "Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out." The Talon heard Jade take several deep breaths, performing the breathing technique he imparted. "Good, you're doing great. Keep it up." he complimented her in a soft voice. This went on for about two minutes until he spoke again. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you." Cheshire answered him, her voice still slightly shaky but definitely in a better state than a few minutes earlier. "I need your help to find Artemis, Dick." she pleaded, one step away from whimpering.

Dick's heart broke. He had never felt his sister so terrified and vowed to make whoever had dared to make her so vulnerable and afraid pay "I will help you find your sister." he solemnly promised. "Send me your location. I will come as soon as I can."

Jade thanked him several times before the call ended.

"What happened?" asked Slade gruffly. Dick stared at the coordinates Jade had sent him before giving a quick explanation of the situation to his former mentor. "Go." he said simply to his son.

At the side of the super soldier Wintergreen merely gave a small smile and nodded in agreement.

Dick sent them an apologetic smile. "We'll finish watching the movie another time." he promised and after the two men nodded he ran to dress in his mercenary identity.

The coordinates led Renegade to a warehouse in Bludhaven. As soon as he entered he removed his mask, knowing that Jade would rather stare at his uncovered face than a mask. He silently watched Cheshire nervously pacing back and forth in the center of the warehouse.

"Jade!"

She initially stiffened but soon her muscles relaxed, having recognized the voice. When she turned around the younger assassin noticed traces of dry tears running down her cheeks, her eyes flushed, slight tremors running through her figure and her entire face expressed anguish, grief, anger, fear and other negative emotions.

Hearing his older sister's broken voice was heartbreaking in itself but seeing it even in her gaze was even more painful for Dick who felt his chest tighten painfully. He forced himself to swallow every instinct of anger, fury and overprotectiveness that he felt rising higher and higher, knowing that for the moment the most important thing was to comfort Jade and so he opened his arms in a silent invitation.

It was as if the dam had broken.

In seconds Jade crossed the entire warehouse and crashed into the acrobat's arms, which closed protectively around her. It had already been some years since Dick had grown taller than her and distractedly Jade, as she cried silently against his armor, missed the times when she was still taller than her little brother.

In stark contrast to the coldness emanating from the Talon's body the young woman felt the warmth from the feeling of safety, comfort and protection sweep over her fully and she melted into Dick's arms as she continued to cry.

Dick rubbed slow comforting circles on her back, his heart breaking with each silent sob from his sister. He placed a tender kiss on the top of her head as his arms tightened lightly over the figure of his partner in crime, leaving her to cry and vent for as long as she would have liked.

Heck, he would have stayed still ten days if it was necessary!

About five minutes passed as Jade's sobbing and crying grew quieter and finally she reluctantly pulled away from her little brother's warm and comforting embrace, sending him a smile that was both grateful and apologetic.

"I-I'm sorry for-"

"You have nothing to apologize for." Dick interrupted her firmly but in a gentle tone. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Cheshire's back straightened and a look of steely determination crossed her face, in stark contrast to her previous expression. "My mother called informing me that fath- Sportsmaster abruptly entered her house and forcibly kidnapped Artemis. She had no chance to stop him."

Dick saw red at her words and was sure that at that moment his eyes were shining with a brilliant gold. He clenched his fists, preventing himself from throwing a punch at the warehouse wall.

Fuck it. I'm going to fucking kill him.

Dick had known both Jade's mother and younger sister and both were people he respected, especially Paula since she was doing everything in her power to abandon her old background in favor of giving her younger daughter a better life.

And as for Artemis the mercenary regarded her as a good friend and a good girl who wanted to do the right thing, more inclined to the opposite side than where her father was. And because of that, Jade was very proud of her younger sister and Dick could see it in her face whenever she talked about Artemis.

And Sportsmaster dared to break the already fragile balance of this family by kidnapping his younger daughter for who knows what selfish ends and sending mother and eldest daughter into emotional turmoil.

But this was a mistake that would prove fatal for Lawrence.

Because Renegade would make him pay dearly.

The mercenary took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, knowing that his anger was the last thing Jade needed. "Do you know the reason Lawrence would kidnap Artemis?"

"My suspicions are that he wants to continue her assassin training begun in her youth." Cheshire admitted, her right fist closing angrily in anger. "I know Artemis will not easily bend to his will to make her like him and that is what I am most afraid of." she swallowed, fixing her green eyes on those of her little brother.

Deathstroke's former apprentice rested his hand on her shoulder, returning the steady, determined, gentle gaze. "Sportsmaster will not hurt your sister too much. Although he is definitely not the father of the year, you know too that in his heart Lawrence could never kill or torture his daughters." he felt her shoulder muscles relax under his touch, which he took as a positive sign and then he continued. "We will find her, Jade. I promise." he affirmed, his blue eyes never leaving her green ones.

The Talon emitted an involuntary grunt when she crashed into him but still wrapped his arms around her, holding her protectively to him. Cheshire melted into the embrace and hid her head between his chin and the base of his neck, her hands firmly wrapping around the massive figure of the younger but far more dangerous and deadly mercenary than she was.

"I know." murmured Jade, placing so much unconditional trust in Renegade that almost left him stunned with raw emotion and gratitude.

Dick's arms tightened further around her and brother and sister stayed that way for as long as she deemed necessary.

The next destination for the two assassins was Gotham, specifically the house where Jade's mother and sister lived and where the kidnapping of the 19-year-old by their father took place. Paula Crock welcomed Renegade benevolently and even held him in a hug that the acrobat gladly accepted, wanting to reassure to the best of his ability the woman who, to no one's surprise, had become like an aunt to him.

Seeing strong, resolute women like Jade and Paula so upset and distressed was a real heartbreak for Dick who mentally vowed to make Sportsmaster pay for all the pain he had caused. Unfortunately, Lawrence had left no useful clues in the house during the fistfight he had with his youngest daughter and ex-wife, so Dick and Jade had to opt for other avenues to find out where the hell her father had been hiding.

The first afternoon of searching bore no fruit and they had to suspend the investigation but Dick made sure to reassure his older sister, promising her that they would be able to find Artemis and rescue her. The first thing the mercenary did once he returned to New York was to create a computer system that would be able to connect to all existing cameras around the world so that Lawrence Crock's face could be applied in the search parameters and, if there were any matches in the cameras, the system would send a notification directly to Renegade's holographic glove.

This was because, according to the acrobat, there were possibilities that Sportsmaster had taken Artemis out of the United States.

During the process of creating this software Slade had attempted to follow in his son's steps but within minutes he gave up, content to stare at Dick's work and wonder how on earth he became a super genius at everything computer-related, far more so than Deathstroke and Batman themselves.

The Talon took about thirty minutes to create the computer program and as soon as it was finished he put Lawrence's face into the search parameters and the only thing he could do was wait to find a match. He sent a message to Jade informing her of the situation and after a short training session and dinner, he went to sleep.

The next day once he returned home from school and had lunch, the first thing Dick did was to see if his program had established a match.

The answer was positive.

Two rings rang before Cheshire answered the call.

"I found him."

In hindsight, Dick and Jade might have arrived earlier at the possibility that Lawrence had been hiding in Vietnam given his ex-wife's Vietnamese origins but hey, neither of them was the best detective in the world, so they were excusable. The two assassins discovered that Sportsmaster was using as a base an old house that belonged to Paula's parents but had been abandoned for many years.

The two slipped silently into the house through a window, entering what was probably originally intended to be some sort of living room left, however, in decidedly poor condition. The two assassins looked at each other briefly and exchanged a nod before parting ways.

Renegade explored the building for a few minutes without making a sound when his earpiece rang and he heard his older sister's voice. "I found some stairs going down, probably to some kind of basement. Maybe he hid her there."

"Roger. Be careful." the acrobat warned her and silence fell again in communications.

The mercenary continued to explore the building but found nothing useful, so he walked silently in the direction Cheshire had headed. He suddenly froze, however, and stood still for a few seconds before he turned sharply and blocked an explosive hockey puck on the fly. He crushed it easily before it could explode and narrowed his white mask eyes menacingly.

"Crock."

"Wilson."

The two mercenaries stared at each other for a few seconds in silence. "You know, of all places, I didn't expect you to take refuge in Vietnam." the youngest stated tapping his earpiece twice, silently communicating to Cheshire that he was about to face her father and so she would have to find Artemis and take her away as previously agreed between them.

Lawrence noticed the movement but decided to ignore it. "I think of it as a dramatic note, you know?" he said casually shrugging his shoulders. He narrowed his brown eyes visible from behind his usual hockey mask. "Get out of here, Richard. You had nothing to do with this."

"I got involved the moment you decided to kidnap my older sister's younger sister, Lawrence." Renegade stated coldly. "Let me guess: you kidnapped Artemis only to train her again in an attempt to make her like you?"

"Bingo." Sportsmaster gave a shark-like grin and began to deftly twirl the spiked ball. "Since you're here I bet Jade is here too." the son of his greatest rival remained silent and he took that as a positive response. "Thank you for bringing her to me for this family reunion. A pity you were not invited."

"Then you'll have to force me out of the family reunion. Bring it on, Sportsmaster."

"My pleasure, Renegade."