He picks up the arrow and gives it a cursory glance, absently flicking it at Robin with a dozen needle- sharp icicles. Even though he has to squint against the sunlight to make out the form of the sniper, he manages to leer when he makes out feminine curves. "Heeeey, hot stu- Artemis?"

She lands on the balls of her feet and straightens, sighing. "Hey, Cam."

They eye each other for a split second; without looking away, Cameron shoots up an ice wall to block the incoming Birdarangs. She almost opens her mouth just to break the silence, but he beats her to it.

"You look ridiculous!" Icicle howls, pointing.

"Oh, you're one to talk!" she snaps back. "Putting on all those spikes 'n shit like you think you're some monster out of a low- budget horror flick-"

"They're useful!" he growls back, visibly offended. "Unlike that top! You forget the bottom half?" He launches some of the ice spikes on his arms at her; Artemis sidesteps neatly, scoffing.

"First of all, you can't even touch me. And secondly, if I were wearing armor on my midsection, I couldn't do things like this!" She comes in low, flips forward and nails him in the gut with her heavy boots. Jr. stumbles back, wheezing.

Artemis presses her advantage, loosing an explosive arrow. Cameron barely manages to freeze it in time, but he's still pelted by the debris when the frozen arrow blows. Artemis uses the exploding arrow as a distraction and comes in from above, feet first.

Jr. grins as he sees his opening and raises his hands, but she bends and twists at the last second, landing on her own hands and throwing out a leg to take him down in a nice, neat sweep. Artemis throws herself on top of him and pins his wrists, smirking. "I win."

He returns the expression. "You so sure?" Ice creeps up her wrists, but it's too slow to pin her...

Artemis growls in frustration and smacks his head as she rolls away, breaking the ice's rapidly increasing hold on her legs. Icicle freezes the ground, laughing out loud when she skids and swears.

"Aw, baby, doesn't matter how skimpy your uniform is or how flexible you are if you don't have any traction!" He gives her chest an open stare, then grins at her. "Cold?"

Artemis roars so loudly that everyone else on the battlefield spares a split second to glance at them. No longer making even a token effort to conserve her ammunition, Artemis blitzes Jr. with all kinds of arrows- explosive, bolas, even the regular lethal ones- leaps over him, still shooting, lands behind him and manages to control her fall on the slick ice so that she's falling toward him.

But Artemis isn't counting on Cameron's scant chivalrous instinct to save her; no, with most of her arrows gone, Artemis uses her bow like a club and crashes into his back. He lands on his face; Artemis punches him in the kidney and slaps his head back into the icy ground when he tries to raise it. Gaining her feet, she brings her bow down across the back of his head.

Icicle Jr. rolls over. "Oooh, I'd forgotten what a complete bitch you are."

"Better a bitch than Daddy's little bitch boy!" she spits, and when his eyes narrow, she knows she's crossed a line. She's balanced on the balls of her feet, ready to dodge an onslaught of cold, but he surprises her with a question instead.

"Pled out, huh?" he rasps, smirking. "Decided you wanted to work for the long johns as community service? You too good to pick up trash now?"

She may not be able to lie worth a damn, but Artemis can take advantage of an opportunity just as well as anyone else. "I'd rather take it out." She looms over him, bow ready despite her lack of arrows.

He doesn't disappoint; Cameron raises his arms and starts blasting.

Artemis backflips toward her teammates, stowing her bow now that she's out of arrows. Jr. follows, ice overtaking the ground with each of his footfalls.

She's entering Kid Flash's range, and he can't afford to lose his footing; Artemis darts to the side and slinks along the edges of Icicle's vision, seconds ahead of needle- sharp ice shards from his arms. She judges her distance with the ease of practice and then takes to the air, hiding in the sun. Cam makes the mistake of looking up, squinting, trying to track her; Artemis detaches her quiver with the flick of a wrist and beans him with it in the middle of his forehead, prompting some very loud, impressive swearing.

Heavy boots follow the empty quiver; Artemis comes down with one foot on his chest and the other on his throat.

Icicle Jr. hits the ground hard and doesn't get up.

She stands over her fallen prey, panting, blood singing through her veins.

"Artemis." Robin says quietly, and she realizes her boot is still planted firmly over Cam's throat. She's two steps away by the time her teammates have registered the fact that she moved at all, gathering her quiver and arrows, and they watch her go in silence.

She misses the hunt.

She'd never been in the field, true; but Sportsmaster's tests were as demanding as any that Black Canary has given them, or any of Batman's missions

except that one, the one they don't talk about, that they try so hard to forget

-and Artemis lived up to her name. She excels in ranged combat, in tracking; she doesn't have her sister's aptitude for subterfuge or her bloodlust, but Artemis has an inborn gift for the chase.

She loves her teammates, but they don't understand. They can't. Robin or Connor would come closest, but Robin doesn't have the feral streak that she does, and Connor is too impatient, too impulsive to savor the hunt.

Artemis very deliberately doesn't look at them, ignoring the million questions her teammates

friends

are too considerate (and preoccupied with containing the supervillains) to voice

right away

and she feels the weight of her family's legacy like the world on Atlas' shoulders.

I have no idea how that angst snuck in there. Dammit, Artemis!