TRIGGER WARNINGS: Abuse (physical and emotional/psychological), graphic depictions of violence, mentions of rape, mentions of gay-bashing.

I am so sorry that was missing before, you guys. I really am supposed to know better.

On with the story!

"Hey... hey beautiful. Wake up."

Artemis wasn't used to waking up slowly, and she didn't like it. Groaning, she forced her eyes open: someone was leaning over her. The image solidified into a redheaded boy around her age, with green eyes and what he probably thought was a reassuring grin on his face. At that moment, Artemis's brain finally caught up to what she was seeing; with a gasp, she scrambled backwards until she hit a wall, instinctively grabbing her bow and quiver as she went. Stupid, stupid, stupid! she cursed herself. After everything she'd been through, she knew better than to let her guard down around – well, around anyone.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay!" the stranger said quickly, holding out his hands in a placating gesture. "I won't hurt you. I-I'm one of the good guys. You know – Kid Flash!" He got to his feet, placing one hand on his hip as he gestured at himself with the other.

It had to be a trick. "Seen Kid Flash on the news," said Artemis. "He doesn't wear black." It was true: although the black getup this stranger wore had some design elements in common with the famous sidekick's costume, he looked more like some kind of evil doppelganger than an actual hero. Evil doppelgangers were just bad news for everyone, which was why her dad wouldn't work with them. Too unpredictable, he always said, and too focused on their heroic counterparts to be useful for much.

"Black? What – oh, right, stealth mode. Here." He poked the red lightning bolt on his chest; canary yellow and red flooded out over his body, transforming his outfit into the far more familiar costume of the Flash's sidekick. "Better?" Artemis nodded warily, but kept back. "So... what about you? What are you doing out in the middle of the desert dressed up like a ninja?"

Artemis glowered at him. "What's it to you?" She didn't spare a glance for the loose black pants and form-fitting, long sleeved shirt that constituted her mission gear; she'd taken to wearing it to bed, just in case something like this happened.

"Nothing, nothing! I was just curious, beautiful, no need to get upset." His eyes fell on the weapon in her hand. "So, uh... d'you know how to use that bow?"

"Yeah, my dad taught me." Then it clicked. "Dad! He must have done this. Another one of his stupid tests." Anger flooded her. It had been less than a week since their last mission. Couldn't he cut her some –

Oh. The mission.

Oh.

"What kind of test?"

"He probably wants me to kill you." The words were out before Artemis could think about it; otherwise, she never would have said a word. No competent assassin would ever let on to their mark about their plans, as her father would no doubt remind her when he debriefed her later.

Maybe it was for the best. He'd run, she'd never catch him, and when her dad came to get her in a few days, Artemis could just say her mouth had gotten away with her. Two failed assignments in a row would cost her dearly, but at least her humanity would remain intact. For now, anyway.

The next thing Artemis knew, Kid Flash was gripping her hand tightly in his as he towed her out of the small shack in which they'd been sheltering, just before it was hit by a tank missile. The explosion threw them both forward, prompting twin cries of pain and startlement and forcing Kid Flash to lose his grip. The two teens hit the ground and looked back in tandem, then scrambled to their feet and started running down the long, red canyon in which the shack had previously stood. Artemis realized almost immediately that she, at least, could never outrun a tank; thinking fast, she threw herself forward into a somersault and took cover behind a large red boulder. Quickly, she aimed and shot; one of the tanks capsized and skidded past her down the canyon. Before she could shoot again, she suddenly found herself speeding away in the arms of a superhero. She braced one hand against Kid Flash's shoulder to pull away and look at him in astonishment.

"Sorry! They've got bigger arrows," he said. As if to illustrate his point, several tank missiles exploded nearby; Artemis ducked her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and curled in tight against the speedster's chest as he zipped around them. As the explosions faded away, she opened her eyes.

"Thanks," she said, a little breathlessly. A part of her was painfully aware of what this meant – the mission was still on; her dad would still expect her to kill Kid Flash – but most of her was just grateful to be alive. If Artemis was honest with herself, she hadn't expected to make it out of that canyon. She certainly hadn't expected her mark to save her, right after she straight-up admitted he was her mark.

Kid Flash grinned as he sped into the open desert. "Hey, I told you: good guy. Now, not to pry, but uh, what's your name? Oh, and what's this about you killing me?"

Artemis's eyes widened; what could she say? If she told him Sportsmaster was her father, he'd freak. "N-nothing," she said, laughing nervously. "I was just messing with you. 'My dad wants me to kill you,' hah! I can't believe you fell for that."

"If you say so," said Kid Flash, giving her a skeptical look.

There was an awkward silence; then, "I really don't want to kill you," Artemis blurted.

Kid Flash grinned at her. "Good to know, beautiful." They sped on.

For a while, they ran in silence. The sun had edged all the way above the horizon when Kid Flash skidded to a halt and set Artemis on her feet. She looked and saw him bent over, hands on his knees, and panting heavily. "Sorry," he gasped. "Running on empty. Don't think I've eaten in a while." He straightened and popped open a hidden compartment on his forearm; it was empty. "Bare," he said, looking alarmed. "I always keep my cupboards full. Unc – the Flash insists."

Interesting; so the Flashes needed to eat to run. Artemis wondered if her father had known this when he took away Kid Flash's food supply. "So what happens now?" she asked.

"Well," said Kid Flash, "unless there's an emergency, I'm about done running for the day." He grimaced. "And even then, I probably won't make it far. We should probably walk for a while."

Artemis nodded, and fell into step beside him as they started walking. "Do you even know where we're going?" she asked.

Kid Flash scratched his head. "Well, I don't know exactly where we are, but those looked like Bialyan soldiers, so we're probably somewhere in the Bialyan Desert. If we keep heading in this direction, we should run into the Qurac border," he said. "Hopefully, my friends will find us before then, but if not, we can find help there."

"Friends?" Artemis inquired.

"Yeah," Kid Flash said, grinning. "My team. There's Robin, and then there's Aqualad, and Superboy, and of course the lovely Miss Martian, and we're all on a team together and we go on missions and fight the badguys and stuff."

Artemis arched an eyebrow at him. "And let me guess, you have your own special clubhouse, too."

"I'm going to ignore the sarcasm, because we totally do, and it's awesome," Kid Flash informed her. "I can't tell you where it is, of course-"

"Of course."

"-But I bet it's way cooler than, uh... say, where are you from?"

Artemis shrugged. "Around."

"Wow, so specific," he teased. "Hey, I never caught your name earlier."

"It's Artemis," she said.

"Like the goddess of the hunt? Cool! Got a bit of a thing for Greek mythology, huh?" Kid Flash said with a wink.

Artemis shrugged. "I dunno, my dad picked it out."

"The same dad who wants you to – whoa, wait, back up. You told me your name?" said Kid Flash, flabbergasted.

"You asked for it," Artemis pointed out, a little irritated.

"Well, yeah, but I didn't mean your real one! I meant, like, a code name or something."

Artemis shrugged. "I don't have one."

Kid Flash rolled his eyes. "So you make one up. But you shouldn't just go around telling people your real name, I mean–"

"Listen," Artemis interrupted, "how far a walk do you think it is to the Qurac border?" She didn't see why she should bother with a codename when she didn't have any friends and her family were all supervillains anyway.

"I – I don't know," said Kid Flash, frowning. "I don't really walk a lot of places, plus I've never really been here before."

"Great," Artemis muttered. "So it could be days. We need to find water ASAP."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard," said Kid Flash with a shrug. "All we need to do is find a cactus or something. Those have water in them, right?"

"Have you been seeing a lot of plant life around here, Kid Optimist?" Artemis demanded.

"Kid Optimist, huh? I like that," he said, grinning. "And you need to quit being such a sourpuss. I told you, my friends will be out looking for me. Chances are, they'll find us long before hydration becomes a serious problem."

Artemis wondered what it must be like to have that much faith in someone. Must be nice, she thought. "We have three days, tops." If her dad didn't show up before then.

"They'll find us," Kid Flash said firmly. "You'll see."

They'd been walking for about an hour when Artemis crested a hill and stopped. "Hey," she said to Kid Flash. They were both breathing heavily in the hot desert air. She gestured. "Do you see what I see?" A wide swath of level sand dotted with dry, green brush cut through the hills in front of them, twisting and turning as it went.

"I don't see anything," said Kid Flash, leaning on his knees a few feet away.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "It's a riverbed, genius. We can find water here." She started down the hill.

"Uhh, Artemis?" said Kid Flash as he followed behind. "I don't know if you noticed, but, uh... it kinda looks like this riverbed is, well... dry."

"Well duh," she said, going to her knees roughly in the middle of it. "It's the dry season. Help me dig, Flash Boy."

"It's Kid Flash," he muttered, but he did as she said. A few minutes later, when their hole was about a foot and a half deep, water started seeping in at the bottom. "Sweet!" Kid Flash exclaimed, reaching in for a drink.

Artemis swatted his hand away. "Wait until the sediment settles, then drink."

"Aw, but Artemis," he whined.

"Do you want to be drinking mud?"

"No, but–"

"Then wait." Kid Flash pouted, but obliged. They didn't have to wait long, though from the way Kid Flash fidgeted, it might as well have been days. When Artemis gave the okay, she had to scold him into drinking slowly so they wouldn't waste any. Who knew when they'd find water again?

They'd just finished drinking and were standing up when Artemis heard the unmistakable sound of heavy machinery approaching. Artemis looked at Kid Flash. "Do you-"

"Yeah," he said, looking grim. He started to scoop Artemis up.

"Wait!" she said. "They're not here yet. Maybe we can-" Hide, she was about to say, but at that moment they heard the buzzing roar of airplane engines; two shadows passed over. Artemis looked up and saw two drones wheeling in the air to fly back. A moment later, gunfire sounded.

"Get down!" Kid Flash shouted; they both hit the dirt. As the planes came back for another pass, Artemis got to her knees, drew an arrow, and lined up her shot. A moment later she let fly; her arrow struck one plane and knocked it into the other just as they crossed over each other in midair, blowing them both out of the sky in a cloud of fire and smoke. "Whoa," said Kid Flash. Just then, three tanks came into view around the riverbend. Artemis and Kid Flash locked eyes briefly; a moment later, they were speeding away across the desert, just like before.

It didn't last long. Soon, Artemis felt a jolt, then suddenly found herself tumbling across the desert, letting out involuntary cries of pain and surprise as she went. She finally came to a stop face-down and just stayed there for a moment, breathing heavily. This was insane. This whole thing was insane.

"Hey, you okay?" said a familiar voice. Artemis looked over to see Kid Flash propping himself up on his elbows a few feet a way. She gave a dry, humorless laugh.

"Yeah," she said. "Just peachy. I mean, we're totally stranded in the middle of the desert and now the Bialyan military is out to get us for no apparent reason, but sure. I'm great. No problemo."

Kid Flash coughed. "Uh, the army thing is probably on me," he said. "Queen Bee and the Justice League aren't exactly, uh... they're not on the best terms."

"Great," Artemis muttered. They both stood up. "We need to get out of the open." She shaded her eyes and scanned the horizon. "There." She pointed at a rock formation off in the distance, wavering in the heat. "Do you see that?"

Kid Flash shaded his own eyes and squinted, then frowned. "That big pile of rocks?"

Good, it wasn't a mirage. "Yeah. If we can make it there without getting spotted again, we might have somewhere we can spend the night without having to worry about dodging tanks." Assuming it wasn't inhabited, but Artemis wasn't in the mood to borrow trouble just then. She looked at Kid Flash. "Can you...?"

He shook his head. "If I were on my own, then maybe, but after that?" He gestured vaguely behind them. "I don't think I have it in me to carry anyone that far. Don't say it," he added warningly as Artemis opened her mouth. "I'm not leaving you behind."

"I can take care of myself." Artemis started walking; Kid Flash followed suit.

"I'm sure you can, beautiful, but that's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"The point," said Kid Flash, "is that we're in this together, and the good guys never leave a man behind." He glanced at her and winked. "Or a very pretty lady, as the case may be."

Artemis rolled her eyes; he probably thought he sounded suave. "That's dumb," she told him.

Kid Flash shrugged. "Not really. It's how the human race became the dominant species on the planet. If we'd just treated everything like it was every man for himself, we never would have made it past the Prehistoric era. Humans are pretty squishy, and not very fast. Loyalty, friendship – they're survival traits."

"For the species," Artemis pointed out. "For the individual, they're as likely to get you killed as anything else." In the back of her mind, she heard a nearly-forgotten voice whisper, 'Every girl for herself.' She squashed it down.

"Not necessarily," said Kid Flash. "See, the idea is that if everybody does it, then whenever anybody needs a helping hand, someone will be there for them. It's not just a one-way thing."

Artemis thought of some of the people she'd met over the years – her dad's colleagues, mostly – and snorted. "Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen."

"Maybe not," Kid Flash said quietly. "But that doesn't mean it isn't worth fighting for." Artemis didn't answer; she just stared moodily downward and kicked at the sand as she walked. It was a nice idea, one that called to her, but Artemis hadn't had the luxury of believing in such things since she was nine years old.

"So..." said Kid Flash, after a few minutes of silence, "are you made of copper telluride?"

Artemis blinked. "Am I what?"

"Because you are Cu-Te!"

She stared at him. "You did not just say that."

"What?"

Artemis just rolled her eyes and walked ahead. It was going to be a long day.

It was indeed a very long day of walking in the hot sun. There were three more tank sightings; even Kid Flash lost his taste for conversation after Artemis reminded him that if they got caught because they were too busy chatting to watch the horizon, he wouldn't be able to speed them away from danger like he had that morning. Once, they had to drop behind a dune and wait for nearly an hour while a patrol rolled across the desert between them and their destination. Kid Flash, having spotted them first, had grabbed Artemis's hand to pull her down to hide; she found herself gripping it like a lifeline while they waited. If the column turned, or if another turned up from the other direction while they were like this, they'd be sitting ducks. Kid Flash hadn't been wrong when he'd said the other guys had bigger arrows. They didn't encounter any more airplanes, which was a blessing. Artemis had no idea what they'd've done about that.

It was long past sunset when Artemis and Kid Flash finally made it to the rock formation. Both teens were tired, thirsty, sunburned, and heavily coated with dust, but their experiences throughout the day had impressed upon them the seriousness of the situation. They made sure to perform a thorough search of the area to make sure they were really alone before reconvening in a small, cave-like area towards the center of the formation. Artemis took note of a craggy section where she was fairly certain she could climb to look out over the top, and relaxed. "We should be safe here," she said. "I'll take first watch." She started to head for her new lookout post.

"Wh – first watch? Artemis, wait." Kid Flash grabbed her arm instinctively; she glared at it until he let go, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I – look, it's been a long day. We're both really tired, and I'm honestly kinda scared that if you go up on that rock you're gonna fall and break your neck, so um... please don't?"

"But we have to-"

"I know," he interrupted. "And we will, we'll set up watches and everything, but I really think we should at least sit down first – both of us."

Artemis hesitated, but then Kid Flash gave her this wide-eyed, pleading look that ought to have been illegal on any human being over the age of seven. She sighed. "Okay, okay, fine, just stop looking at me like that. It's–" adorable "–embarrassing." Kid Flash just grinned at her as they both sat down against one of the rocky walls of their shelter.

For a moment, all was quiet. Artemis leaned her head back and closed her eyes, figuring that if she had to be resting, she could at least get something out of it. She wouldn't fall asleep, though, no matter how inviting the darkness behind her eyelids seemed.

"Lot of stars out here tonight," said Kid Flash, just as Artemis felt herself slipping.

"Hmm?"

She could feel him grinning. "You're not falling asleep on me, are you, beautiful?"

"No," she mumbled, without opening her eyes.

"That's what they all say." Artemis sighed and forced her eyes open. "Whoa, hey, that's not – you don't have to – you can fall asleep if you want," the speedster blurted. "I'll take first watch, it's fine."

Artemis shook her head. "I want first watch." It wasn't that she didn't trust Kid Flash not to do something stupidly gallant like let her sleep the whole night through, it was just that she didn't trust him not to do something stupidly gallant like let her sleep the whole night through. Then he'd probably fall asleep himself, despite his best intentions, and they'd be ambushed in the middle of the night. Artemis didn't often cross paths with the average American suburb kid, raised far away from everyday violence and the casual breakdown of moral society, but she knew how to recognize one when she saw him. No way was a kid like him up for an all-night watch, especially not after the day they'd just had.

"If you're sure," Kid Flash said, breaking into her thoughts. He sounded doubtful.

"Positive." Her tone brooked no argument. They sat in silence for a bit.

"Artemis," Kid Flash began, then paused. Artemis turned to look at him, but couldn't really make much out in the dark. "I know I said I wasn't going to pry, but..."

"You need to know who's behind all this." She'd been expecting this.

"Y-yeah. Sorry."

"It's fine." Artemis sighed and braced herself. She'd gotten to like Kid Flash. "It's... it's my dad. Sportsmaster."

Kid Flash's head jerked up. "Sportsmaster?"

"Uh-huh."

"Sportsmaster the supervillian?" Artemis almost wished she could see the look on his face; in any other situation, it would probably be hilarious.

"Yeah."

"He has a kid?"

"Two, actually," Artemis said. "But, uh, Cheshire's... not around much."

"Chesh – wait, you're related to Cheshire?"

"And our mom is Huntress, yeah. Look, do you want to find out what's going on or not?"

"Sorry, sorry, it's just – Sportsmaster. Has kids."

Artemis rolled her eyes and continued: "Dad always wanted me and Ja – Cheshire to follow in his footsteps: become supervillains, join the League of Shadows... He started training us when we were little. My sister ran away years ago, but I stayed. I wanted to be there when mom got out of prison. When the training got harder, that was all I'd think about. I'd keep telling myself that mom would get out soon, and then everything would be okay." Artemis laughed bitterly. "I don't know why I thought that would fix anything."

"She's your mom," said Kid Flash. "Moms are supposed to fix stuff like that."

"Yeah. Well. Anyway, she was supposed to get out last year, but... something went wrong, I guess. Way wrong. Then Dad started doing this thing where he'd just drop me off in the middle of nowhere and tell me to find my own way home." She scowled. "I guess this time he decided to make it interesting. He gave me a target: you."

"But then why take away my food supply?" Kid Flash wanted to know. "I mean, if it's supposed to be a challenge..."

Artemis shook her head. "I doubt he knew about the connection between the food and your speed. Besides, I don't think he's testing my combat abilities. He – there was a mission, a – a special mission. I had the perfect shot; I could've taken down the target right then and there... but I missed. On purpose." She swallowed. "Guess Dad caught on."

"Wow," said Kid Flash.

"Yeah, pretty messed up, huh?"

"No! Well, I mean, yeah, it's pretty messed up that your dad's been training you to kill people, but that's not... It's just, after everything you've been through, you wouldn't take the shot." Artemis cringed with shame. "That's... that's amazing."

Her head jerked up. "Amazing?" Had she heard right?

"Well, yeah," Kid Flash said, furrowing his brow in puzzlement at her tone. "You lived with your dad for years without letting him turn you into a murderer. I mean, you could've turned out like Cheshire."

"Dad says mercy is a sign of weakness," Artemis said.

Her new friend scowled. "Well, he's wrong," he said. "Hanging onto your principles is about the strongest thing I can think of. You're really brave, Artemis; I mean it."

Artemis ducked her head, though she knew it was too dark for him to see her blush. "Thanks." A cool gust of wind blew through their little cavern; Artemis shivered.

"Hey, are you cold? Here." Before she could object, Kid Flash scooted closer and slung an arm over her shoulders. "Better?"

Artemis opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened and closed it again. "Yeah," she said finally. "Thanks." Then, to save her pride, she added: "Pretty smooth, for the copper-and-tellurium guy."

Kid Flash groaned. "I'm never gonna live that down, am I?"

"Nope." Artemis smirked, though she knew he couldn't see it. "So what about you? How'd you end up stuck in the middle of the desert with an assassin's daughter?"

If there was one thing redheads could do better than anybody else, it was blush. Artemis wondered if Kid Flash was blushing right now; from the awkward way he was rubbing the back of his neck, she imagined so. "Eh-heh... well... it's kind of embarrassing." Artemis just arched an eyebrow and waited. "I was on my way to the Ca – to my team's secret hideout for a mission, only I guess I wasn't paying attention. There was a tripwire in one of the alleyways; I ran right into it. Never saw who knocked me out, but I'm guessing it was your dad?"

"Probably," said Artemis. "He likes to get his hands dirty."

"Right, well. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the desert. Saw you passed out a few feet away, so I grabbed you and brought you to that shack, and... well, you know the rest."

Artemis blinked; she hadn't known that last bit. "Oh. Well, thanks." She cleared her throat. "For, y'know, taking me with you."

Kid Flash looked a little offended. "Well, I wasn't gonna just leave you. What kind of jerk do you think I am?"

Artemis shrugged. "Where I come from, they're just called normal people."

Kid Flash was silent for a moment; Artemis could almost feel him staring at her. "Well," he said at last, "not everywhere is like that."

"If you say so." Artemis yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder. She knew she should start her watch soon, but maybe it would be okay if she just... closed her eyes... for a minute...

Wally hardly dared to breathe when Artemis's head dropped onto his shoulder. He'd never had a girl this close to him before, outside of the occasional rescue mission, and that was totally different. For a moment, he was too caught up in the tingles he felt everywhere her body touched his to do anything but stare. Her hair gleamed silver in the moonlight as it cascaded over her shoulder; the end of her ponytail curled just a few inches above the ground. "Artemis?" he whispered at last, as if anything louder would break the spell. There was no response; Wally looked closer and saw that she was asleep. He huffed out a breath of silent laughter. "I'll take the first watch," she says. Well, that was all right; Wally could keep a lookout while she slept. He started to disentangle himself, but froze when the archer shivered. Wally knew it was dumb, but he couldn't stand the thought of her shivering down here in the dark by herself. Against his better judgment (not that he ever listened to it), he settled back in and pulled Artemis closer. He could keep watch from down here, right? Yeah, he decided, ignoring the voices in his head that sounded like Uncle Barry and Robin telling him not to be an idiot. Yeah, it'd be fine.

"Well, well, well, isn't this adorable." Artemis jolted alert at the sound of her father's voice, waking Kid Flash in the process. They both scrambled to their feet. "But I think you may have missed the point of this assignment, baby girl," Sportsmaster continued. "So why don't you go ahead and shoot your little boyfriend there and we'll head home to review your abysmal performance."

Dark shapes emerges from the shadows to surround the pair: her father's henchmen. Artemis looked over at Kid Flash; his green eyes looked steadily back as he slipped his hand into hers and squeezed. She took a deep breath and looked back at her father. "Not a chance."

"Have it your way." Sportsmaster stepped back. Artemis released Kid Flash's hand to draw an arrow and put it to the string; she only had time to fire three before Sportsmaster's men were upon them. She bashed one with her bow and ducked under another's swing, turning the motion into a sweep kick that sent him crashing to the ground. Beside her, Artemis heard Kid Flash cry out; quickly, she maneuvered herself to stand protectively over his fallen form. She brought one guy down with an uppercut to the jaw and another with a roundhouse to the side of the head. It was futile, of course; her dad knew her capabilities and had brought more than enough men to subdue her. Still, every moment Artemis fought was another moment Kid Flash got to keep breathing, even if he wasn't awake to appreciate it. Artemis took down three more henchmen before those moments were up; then a sharp pain erupted in the back of her skull and she knew no more.