An assassin's emotions

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I wish I did…

To say that Jade was conflicted would be an understatement.

Artemis was her sister. Her sister who Sportsmaster, their father had abducted when she had been returning home from a mission in Bialiya. Her sister, who was being held by the League of Shadows, her company on the order of Ra's Al Ghul, her boss. The Shadows wanted information about the Justice League and Artemis's little Team.

It wasn't Jade's fault if Artemis had decided to become a hero. It definitely wasn't Jade's fault that Artemis hadn't been able to avoid capture. It sure as hell wasn't Jade's fault that Artemis was being brutally tortured by the Shadows.

So why did she feel so guilty?

Maybe it was because she'd always hated to see her little sister in pain. Maybe it was because she still felt horrible about abandoning her sister when she was so young. Felt horrible about leaving her with their cruel and abusive father. Maybe it was because she knew it wasn't Artemis's fault either. Maybe she was secretly proud of the life her sister chose, and didn't want Artemis to regret it because of what she was being subjected to. Maybe it was because she knew that Artemis didn't blame her, nor did she hate her for abandoning her, even though she should have. Jade told herself that was the reason.

Or maybe it was because she knew that once she had told the Shadows what they wanted to hear, once she was no longer useful to them, they would kill her. And she didn't want her sister to die.

Jade told herself that was ridiculous. She was Cheshire, an assassin for crying out loud. Death was part of her job description. She was used to it. Why should it be any different if it was Artemis? They were related-but that didn't mean anything. She'd ceased to be Artemis's sister the day she changed her last name to Nguyen. That was part of the reason she changed her name in the first place. Assassins didn't love anyone. Love was a weakness. But seeing Artemis with so many broken bones (accompanied by a near broken spirit), hearing her shallow, uneven breaths, being able to smell the blood in her holding cell, the fact that this vulnerable version of Artemis was close enough to touch and the feeling of her diminishing hope so strong she could almost taste it made her realize something.

That Cheshire and Jade Nguyen were not the same person. Cheshire might be an assassin who killed in exchange for money, but Jade hated death. Cheshire might work alongside her father (sportsmaster) because she was ordered to, but Jade was a woman who desperately tried to sever her family ties because she wanted nothing to do with him. Cheshire might not be allowed to love anyone, but Jade Nguyen was.

And suddenly she didn't care if the Shadows would (literally) kill her for this, she didn't care that she would probably have to face the consequences of her past crimes once she did what she was about to, didn't care that she was going to need to find a new job and didn't care that she was going to need to relocate.

She was going to rescue her sister.

Because Cheshire might want Artemis, the new sidekick of Green Arrow, to die, but Jade Nguyen loved her sister, Artemis Crock.

And that was exactly what she told the Justice League when they asked her why she safely returned Artemis back to them.

Because that what older sisters were for.