Artemis's POV

I crept slowly to the door, readied three arrows to shoot at a time.

This was it. I was going to kill all of the League of Shadows leaders, for all they had done to me and to superheroes who tried to make the world a better place.

I hadn't ever actually seen the League's leaders, except one.

Marcella. A white haired Russian demon(not literally—she's just a itch with a capital B). Thin and tall in her tight leather jumper and her ghost hair whipping around, she stalked the training facilities, scream at us if we messed up, then push us one by one to the floor, grab her whip, and begin to slash our backs open. Good thing there was a healer here too, because every time that happened we would all line up with ripped, bleeding skin, crying and clutching ourselves only to be healed without a scar. But we never forgot what she would do if one of us messed up, that thick Russian accent. Don't think that it hurts like hell? I guess you never watched the Passion of the Christ then.

I knew there was between 5-7 of them, and since I had the element of surprise, I think I could take them down.

They lived on this floor, behind this door, and had there meetings here.

I frowned when I realized I'd have to take my hand off my bow to open the knob. I reached down, slowly turned the knob, pushed it out gently without a noise. I softly sighed and put my hand back on my bow, gave it a good luck kiss, a kicked the door open.

….

An unmasked Cheshire looked up in surprise while speaking to…Sports Master.

Her face was quickly turned to one of shock and anger. "You!"

"Ah, kitty-cat and pop." I aimed my bow. "Nice to see you again."

She grabbed her shuriken and flung them; I knelt to the floor, let loose a barrage of arrows, and dodged another set of daggers.

The arrows lodged into the wall and father dear laughed.

"I see you haven't much improved. Too easy to dodge." He grabbed a bat from his back.

How dare he think he can still criticize my archery! I shot arrow after arrow, one snipping his shoulder, another he batted away with his bat.

I flipped over a desk chair. Crouched, I set an arrow in the string.

Cheshire chuckled, and flipped away as I shot an arrow. This was gonna' be harder than I thought. I was expecting the leaders to be here, having a meeting at this long glass table, sitting in there leather chairs.

"Thought I tore that leg of yours up." I said, eyes narrowing at Cheshire.

"My dear, we have a healer." She said matter-of-factly.

Right, I had forgotten for some reason.

I shot another arrow out, and she cut them down with kunai.

"Aw, is little Arty sad that the Shadows let her go?" she said in a whiney voice, flipping away from my arrow.

"Why is that anyway?" I growled, out of curiosity. I stepped away as Sports Master swung his bat at me, missing and smashing the glass table in.

I bent low to the ground as he swung at me head, and grabbed a long, sharp shard of table and cut his arm as I came up and back-flipped away.

"Oh, please, Arty. Confidentiality, have you heard? I'm not allowed to share that with you." She narrowed her eyes.

I shot an arrow at Sports Master, who took it in the shoulder.

"Argh!" he yelled, pulling off his mask and holding his shoulder. A blood spot formed, and he looked up at me in annoyance.

Wow, can we say old? He had crow's feet and was growing gray hair around his temples. I hadn't seen his face since I was thirteen.

I smirked at him, and hesitated for only a second to think, The Team. Do it for them. Before I let loose another into his thigh. "That was for mom."

"Ach, that's my little girl." He growled, seething with pride. It irked me. How strange was it that your father wasn't proud when you hit a center mark at seven, but only when you shot him twice?

Cheshire cooed, "Having a daddy-daughter moment? Sorry to interrupt." She flung a kunai at me, and as I dodged, I released another, before I was running low on ammo.

'Dad' was out of commission, I needed to corner Cheshire, and maybe I would be able to get out of here alive.

"Where are the leaders?" I asked, readying a paralysis arrow. These had to be special ordered, and each one had to count. I studied her body language for signs of dodging, and aimed for her neck, which would instantly kill her without pain. If I missed the mark, it would hit her chest and paralyze her for a few hours. Long enough to bring her in.

"Oh, please, Arty, I thought you were smarter than that. Of course, they don't live here. Why would we let everyone know the Leaders live here? Even I don't know where they live."

Ah. That explained the loose security. I shot my arrow, but with a target like Cheshire, she dodged and it landed into the wall.

"Arty's out of arrows? Oh, poo." She smiled, pulling up her shirt to show off twenty kunai and shuriken each.

I knew I had to anger her somehow. I took out of my belt a contraption that looked like a large Pez container.

I pushed the button, and it pulled out into a crossbow. I didn't like them as much, but it came in handy when I ran out of ammo, cause this specially designed one loaded mini arrows automatically. There was up to a hundred arrows crammed in.

Cheshire's eyes widened in surprise, and in that brief second, I launched an arrow that landed in her right side.

"Ow!" she cried.

I made a break for it, running through the dark hallway and onto the elevator. As the door was closing, I heard a Guard, "Would you like me to sound the alarm?"

"No!" she growled. "She's my meat. Take care of Sports Doofus in there." She got up and her glaring eyes could be seen from where I was as the door closed with a ding!

I hit the ROOF button, and ascended up. It seemed way too calm after the adrenaline of battle. I checked to make sure my crossbow wouldn't get stuck, and checked the cuts I got from the glass table. My knees were a bit scraped from crouching in the glass as well.

I rolled my head and shoulders, took a sigh, and decided I would finish this. It was a two-minute ride.

The door opened with a ding and I was staring out at all of Star City from its highest peak.

I knew this was the only elevator that took you to the roof, and Cheshire would have to walk from the west side of the building to get here. So I had some time.

I aimed my bow at the door, and readied a trick arrow that made fireworks that burnt the flesh off your face.

The elevator descended to the second to last floor. She was getting on it now.

Then the Roof key lit up, and the ding of the door sounded as it opened.

Nobody stepped out.

I waited. "Let's go, Cheshie."

Instead, kurenai flew out, and I had to dodge. Sports Master flew out, swinging his bat up just as I let out my arrow, and he knocked my whole crossbow into the air, making it land in the corner near the ledge. The arrow blew up far above us, a firework lighting up the sky.

Wally's POV

So I was sitting at the top of a bridge (not very safe, I know) waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more.

I sighed, wondering what to do. It was starting to get chilly up here, and the height was a bit creepy. The dark waters of the river sloshed noisily, and I could hear it through the whistle of wind.

Then, as I was climbing down, I just happen to look up as a firework went off. Just one, measly green firework. But I knew those. They were one of Artemis's trick arrows that she was always complaining cost so much. I always argued, How much do you think it costs to fit fuel, oxidizer, barium chloride, and a binder to fit in one little arrow? The fete of pyrotechnic composition on this level is just short of amazing!

Point is, that was her, and she was fighting. She was in trouble, because Artemis doesn't take aim into the air like that. She was at Star Tower, on the roof.

She needed my help, was all I could think, and landed at the floor of the bridge. I took a breath, and centered myself. Let's see how fast I could really run.

I ran at my normal speed, and thought of Artemis getting hurt, which fueled my adrenaline. I was passing cars so fast, I couldn't see the colors. I was running by at incredible speed, and used my scientific brain to categorize it. The wind whistled in my ears, I couldn't hear anything but.

Mach 3, I decided, flying by a crowd of women whose hair and skirts blew up. I was already around the corner before I could look.

I stopped at the building, and decided that going on the elevator would be too slow. The building across the street was not office, but a sleek apartment with rows of fire escapes. I ran up them, flying up to the roof.

I was still three floors too low compared to the Star Tower, although I could see on the roof Sports Master, Cheshire, and Artemis.

I backed up to the edge and let anger fuel me, and ran at mach speed, jumped, and landed onto the roof of the Star Tower.

Artemis's POV

Sports Master knocked my crossbow all the way into the corner by the ledge.

"You shouldn't underestimate an enemy because they're injured, Artemis." He growled.

And he was still lecturing me! "Were you always this asshole-ish or are you making a special effort today?" I asked, "Wait no, you always were."

Just then, there was a blur out of the corner of my eye, and then boom.Wally was rolling onto the roof.

"Wally!" I shouted in surprise.

"Is this a boyfriend of yours?" Sports Master asked, actually sounding protective. Although the way he phrased it made me sound like a whore.

Wally stood, smiled at me, and glared when he saw Sports Master and Cheshire.

Cheshire flung out kurenai, and with even faster reflexes than usual, KF sped out of the way, landing right next to Cheshire, and before she could shout, he punched her in the solar plexus.

"Uh!" the air whooshed out of her.

Father swung out his bat. It narrowly missed, I felt the swing against my ponytail. "I'll cut that hair off just like I did when you were seven!" He grinned.

I dropped to the ground and swung out my legs, kicking him to the floor. He grabbed my arm and flung me out near the elevator.

Cheshire recovered, slashing out shuriken into Wally, he dodged, but one got him in the shoulder.

"Agh!" he pulled it out quickly.

Cheshire smiled, and I was filled with dread. "That stuff I just hit you with will make you feel woozy, and will slow you by ten times your normal amount. Welcome to the human's speed."

Wally was moving slower, at an average person's speed. Even I was faster than that. He couldn't dodge the kurenai, and one caught him in the leg. He pulled it out with an ouch.

Sports Master caught my hair, and pulled me back by it, dragging me to the ledge. "Cheshire, hand me a kurenai!"

She tossed one, and it lodged at the ledge an inch from him. "Bastard women," he muttered.

I struggled, pushing at his arms and massive body, but he wouldn't budge.

"Time to cut that damn hair you're so proud of." He grinned, taking the dagger and reaching out. I hit his elbow, and the dagger very narrowly missed his face.

I kicked him, but he didn't move, and it propelled me backward. I fell off the side of the Star Tower.

Wally's POV

I saw her fall over the side of the building, and my whole body shut down. "ARTEMIS!" I cried, trying to run but feeling like lead weight were sitting on my feet.

Sports Master had his hand out over the ledge, and he pulled up the end of a blonde ponytail. He pulled it over his head, and there was Artemis, holding the roots of her hair in pain.

My wounds were bleeding, ruining my great suit.

"Dear girl, Daddy's got you." Sports Master cooed.

Daddy? I was shocked. Although now, I did see the resemblance. The same hair, the same flair of anger, the expression when annoyed.

"I'm thinking about cutting your hair right now, letting you fall to your death." He said.

Artemis kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying back onto the roof, and she landed on the ledge unevenly. She tottered, and I grabbed her. She fell on me, and I let out a whoosh of relief.

A strong hand grabbed me, and I was pulled forward, out from under Artemis, and thrown to the ground. Sports Master smirked while Cheshire punched me, and my mouth and nose lit with pain.

My body felt lighter, like I could run again. I tried, but I stayed on the floor with little budge. I tried again, and this time I was running, and caught Sports Master in a headlock as he was reaching for Artemis.

He swung me about, and I hung on. His arms probed and caught me, and he flung me forward. I crashed hard onto the roof and a small puddle from an earlier rainfall.

Artemis dashed up, running to the corner of the roof and grabbing a crossbow. She shot out, and hit her dad in the shoulder blade. How badass was that?

Cheshire threw her daggers out at Artemis, and I jumped in front of the archer, shielding her as I took four painful prods in the back.

"My, my. You just took an abnormally high amount of toxin just now." Cheshire smiled.

I poked my chest, and it sent out my location and an alarm to the Team. I didn't think I was going to have this much trouble, otherwise I would've done it earlier.

"Wally!" Arty cried, pulling out the knives shamelessly as I grunted in pain, and laid me down on the rooftop.

She had three pretty faces, all moving around. Bright pokadots swam at the corner of my eyes.

"You!" She stood, angry as hell. She propped the bow up and aimed at Cheshire. She sent out four and one hit Cheshire in the calf as she was doing a cartwheel.

She immediately collapsed to the floor, wobbly and still. "What, what was that?"

"Paralysis arrow. Never leave home without it you cart wheeling bitch."

I grinned. That's my girl.

"Daddy dear, it's your turn to pay." She turned to look at him.

He picked up his bat and swung it in circles.

"What kind of sick person holds there child off a building? That's some Michael Jackson shit right there." She glared. "What kind of man beats his child and carelessly cuts her hair with a knife. You know you cut my scalp open, right? You know when you did that the first time, I had to go to a healer so she could peace back my skin?"

I listened in horror at her words. I never had to deal with family like that. So she grew up with the Shadows, and her dad abused her?

"I won't lie, I'm not perfect," he grinned. "When I found out your mother was pregnant I was horrified. But then I knew I wanted to raise a warrior, and you turned out just like Daddy wanted. Then you had to go and make me handicap your mother after that stupid stunt you pulled."

Artemis glared out and raised her crossbow. He swung out, and she jumped back, shooting out one that lodged itself into the bat.

He swung again, and she was hit hard in the arm, an audible grunt coming off her. I felt useless as I sat there.

She shot out four arrows, three hitting appendages and one hitting his chest. He went down, lying flat on the rooftop.

Artemis fell to her knees, putting her hands onto her face.

I crawled over. "Hey, it's okay…he's still your d-dad." I said, my tongue feeling swollen, I wasn't able to form the words. "It's hard to jail him."

She shook her head. "No, I-I killed him."

"Oh." I said, thinking this must've been hard for her before my body started to convulse and I blacked out.

…

Artemis's POV

Oh my god, I actually killed him. I knew four arrows were too much, but I thought he may have been able to dodge.

And one hit him in the heart, which punctured it. He was dead. My mother was safe from harm.

Wally was mumbling something, but I wasn't listening. Then he started to shake uncontrollably, and his eyes rolled up into his head.

"Wally!" I cried, holding his shoulders.

I ran over to Cheshire. I searched in her pockets and hidden folds and belt, and found an injection tube that read, 'Remedy for Toxin'.

I took it and pressed the air out of it, and jammed it into his rectus femoris, or his front thigh. When no blood came up, I pushed the solution into him.

He stopped shaking after a few seconds, and his eyes were closed.

Am I too late? Tears spilled down my cheeks.

"Wally! You can't leave! I need you! I love you!" I shouted, unable to control the sobs that racked my body.

I bent low and softly kissed him.

…

"Ow." Wally said, touching his tongue to his split lip.

I pulled back in surprise, then shouted, "YOU'RE OKAY YOU BIG, LOVEABLE OAF!"

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. It tasted like blood, but I didn't care.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.

I pulled back to look at him again, really look at him, "Thank you, Wally. Thank you for everything." I hugged him close.

"You're welcome, Arty. I'll have to thank you too, for saving my life and for showing me what love and friendship really is." He whispered in my ear.

How corny and beautiful was that. I thunked his nose with my index. "I love you, Wally. I mean it, too." I stared into his eyes.

"I love you, Arty."

I took his face in my hands and kissed his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his chin. Finally reaching his mouth, we shared a soft kiss, and our breaths mingled.

"Hey, how mad do you think Roy would be if he knew Cheshire and the League were in his home town all along?" He asked, and I laughed.

I broke apart, and helped him up, because he was still bleeding. My arm hurt a lot from the bat, and it would be purple and bruised if we didn't get a healer.

"Hey, did you get faster?" I asked, remembering how he jumped from the building across the street.

"Yup, Mach 3 is my max."

"That is amazing," I said honestly.

Then, all of a sudden, M'gann's plane appeared behind us. I jumped and almost pissed myself. The rest of the team walked out, Robin snickering.

"How long have you guys been there?" I asked in annoyance.

M'gann put her hands out in apology. "Well…since that er, first kiss…"

I slapped my forehead.

Robin snickered and helped Superboy in chaining and carrying Cheshire.

"I stopped the guys from coming out and ruining your moment, but they wanted to chain Cheshire while she was down." The Martian explained.

Aqualad turned to look at me, and I looked up at him, gesturing at the two Leaguers we caught.

"You are back on the Team. Actually, I don't think you were ever out of it." Kaldur smiled.

I hugged him. "Thank you. Not to shabby, eh? Just the two of us and we caught two high-profile criminals along with finding the League base." I boasted.

"With some cuts and bruises," Wally grinned.

"Hey, this one looked dead. He's still alive." Robin said, checking Sports Master's pulse.

My heart fluttered. A weight was lifted. I don't know if I could have dealt with taking a human life, not to mention my own father's.

"He's just heavily paralyzed. Probably will be for the rest of his life." Robin stated.

Once again, a weight lifted. He could do no harm to my mother or anyone.

The team piled back onto M'gann's ship, Wally and I walking slowly to the hatch.

I kissed him softly where his lip was split.

"Why didn't I try this out earlier?" he wondered aloud.

"You weren't in love with me yet." In love and Artemis didn't fit together on the same sentence. It left a fluffy feeling in my stomach.

"Yes, I was." He said matter-of-factly. "I was just too dumb to realize.

Just before we walked onto the ship, I bumped his hip with mine and said, "Just so you know, I think Wally is the most adorable name ever."

…

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews. I really enjoyed working on this. This wasn't the original idea I had planned. It was just supposed to be a ball in Monte Carlo, with Arty trying to steal a chip and Waltemis moments. But with you're reviews, this became MUCH more than that. It developed into this whole drama/action/humor thing, and it was thanks to you guys! :D More stories to come, if I have time now that school has started. Love, JackalCringe