Robin entered the Batcave full of apprehension. He knew that something big was up, but no one would tell him anything, which in itself was strange. The League always kept in the loop because they knew that if they didn't, he'd just go and find out for himself. But in this case, it had been a bit harder to snoop. Robin had been assigned an escort. A freaking super-powered escort.

"What's up?" Robin said, trying not to come across as snappish and fed up with being kept in the dark as he was. Batman turned from his many monitors, most of which displayed pictures of Artemis and where her tracking beacon had fizzled out. Trying to find out where she was now. Now that she'd returned after weeks of being missing.

"You've become a target." Batman said seriously, as usual. Robin almost laughed out loud.

"That's it? I'm a target? I became a target when I decided to throw in my lot with you and the rest of the League. This is no biggie." Batman didn't laugh. In fact, his frown deepened.

"Artemis is hunting you down. She's returned, and flipped sides, apparently. And as far as we can tell, she's set on killing you this time." Robin back-pedaled furiously. What? Artemis had been missing for weeks. Her and Roy both. At first, everyone had assumed that they'd just gone off somewhere to be alone, but when they hadn't returned – and with the League missing sixteen hours of their lives from the attack by Vandal Savage...Robin cringed, thinking of an Artemis that wasn't on his side, one being controlled by the Light, when the answer occurred to him.

"She's faking it." Robin said with a confidence he didn't feel. "She's just trying to get in good with the Light. Like last time."

"Well then it seems like the Light has asked her to kill you as a little initiation. In any case, you are officially under League protection, Robin." Robin opened his mouth to protest but then shut it quickly seeing his adoptive father's look. Batman wasn't playing around. "You're not to go anywhere without one of us around, do you understand?" Robin nodded, only a little sullenly. His freedom was being stolen away from him and he didn't like it. "I said: 'Do you understand?'" Batman repeated when Robin didn't answer immediately.

"Yeah, yeah." There was a "whatever" in there somewhere, but Robin thought it best for that bit to go unsaid. And so he marched himself out.

And the escort followed him.

Artemis knew where he would be. Artemis knew that he wouldn't be expecting any kind of attack. Not at school, anyway. She also knew that the League knew that she was after everyone's favorite pet bird. That was the only explanation for Green Lantern and Hawkman to be keeping obsessive watch over Gotham Academy like they had been for the past three days.

Artemis watched casually from her easy perch atop a skyscraper, crouched and rocking slightly on her heels, her head tilted to one side like a curious predator evaluating her prey. She contemplated going into the school after him for a brief moment but then nixed that idea. She'd get caught by someone who thought she was dead – A.K.A then entire student body. No, she thought grimly, Robin wouldn't do well with being watched 24/7. He'd try and get away at one point or another. All she had to do was wait and watch.

And then she got bored. Artemis had never done well with staying still for more than an hour. And it seemed like Boy Wonder wasn't going to make a break for at any time soon. Artemis smiled savagely to herself. Time to go make some trouble.

Even with the Leaguers acting as guardian angels, it was almost laughably easy to break the lock on the outside of a third-story window that lead to the locker room. Artemis didn't even break a sweat.

"Eenie, meanie, minie..." Artemis picked a locker at random and stole inside, smiling at her luck. Inside was a standard blue school uniform that looked like it would fit and a pair of sunglasses. This couldn't possibly get any easier. Within seconds, with her hair pulled free of its traditional ponytail and her distinctive almond-shaped eyes hidden by the Aviators, Artemis was a completely new person. No one would recognize her.

"Excuse me," Artemis said, raising the pitch of her voice a half-step. The school's frazzled secretary barely looked up from the papers she was frantically scribbling on.

"What?" she said, her voice containing a stressed, nervous edge. Artemis felt a stab of pity for the woman, she should get an office aide or something.

"I'm looking for Dick Grayson," Artemis said in high, ringing falsetto.

"Yes, yes," the woman dialed a number on one of the many phones on her desk, snapped a short message to whoever was on the other line and then slammed it down into its cradle. "He will be down momentarily." And then she turned away, answering one of the other telephones that had started to ring insistently. Artemis gave a quick nod of thanks and waltzed out of the office, an easy smile forming itself on her lips. Before long Artemis heard footsteps echoing from down the hall and felt her heard speed up in anticipation.

"You called me down?" Robin, dressed as Dick Grayson, son of multimillionaire, Bruce Wayne, said to the secretary. He'd walked past Artemis like she wasn't even there. The secretary waved absently toward the bench where Artemis had seated herself but there was no one around. All he saw was a flash of blonde hair before it disappeared around the corner. Dick's stomach dropped and he sprinted down the hallway, trying to catch up. He reached the end, but there was nothing, only a faint, goading laugh and another glimpse of gold vanishing into an unused classroom. And then she saw her, after barreling into the room, leaned against the blackboard casually, sunglasses perched on top of a nest of gold hair, eyes half-closed like she was just another student ditching class for a noontime nap.

"You're disturbing my beauty sleep." Artemis said smoothly without opening her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Dick demanded, a little more than shocked to find Artemis back at school. And not exactly looking like she was up to anything good.

"Napping. A girl gets tired, you know. I'm not made of steel; that would be Superman."

"And here I was thinking that you wanted to kill me." Robin snapped, not sure what her game was. Damn, why did Artemis have to be so taciturn all the time!

"And wherever would you have heard that?" Artemis asked, grinning, eyes still closed. Dick saw her roll something around in her fingers, then leaped backwards as he realized what it was – seconds before Artemis threw the small bundle of gunpowder and other fun, explosive goodies onto the floor, igniting an enormous explosion that rocked the room. Dust flew from the ceiling, covering everything with white powder. By the time the smoke cleared, Artemis had vanished. Again. Swearing violently, Dick checked that the coast was clear before jumping out of the window after her. His League guardsmen would be down soon to investigate the explosion and he did not want to be around when they figured out that Artemis was behind it.

"Artemis!" Dick shouted after her, but Artemis didn't respond, only laughed and kept running. "Quit screwing around!" Artemis giggled. He was so out of his league.

"I've never liked that about you, Bird Boy. You have a massive superiority complex, you know that?"

"It's well deserved." Robin said, crossing his arms, but Artemis knew he was ready to fight her. Yeah, not going to happen.

"Ah-ah-ah. There you go again." Artemis tsked. "You need to stop that." Suddenly the hair on the back of Artemis's neck stood on end and she could feel the tracker under her skin buzz slightly. Someone was tracing her location and she had a sinking suspicion that she knew who. "Night, Boy Wonder." Before Robin could react, before he even had his arms uncrossed, a dart buried itself into his chest. A look of blank shock swept over his face before Robin fell over sideways, out cold.

Robin awoke, unbound, on a cold cement floor. That was weird. He was still alive. Robin sat up slowly, unsure of the effects that the drug would have on his system. That was so unlike Artemis, he thought, to use sedatives. Usually she preferred to beat her victims into submission.

"Be careful. That drug is a bitch." A voice jerked him back into the present and Robin jackknifed to his feet, before a crippling wave of paralysis and nausea rushed over him. Artemis caught him before he hit the ground, sighing.

"Why don't you listen to me?" Artemis growled in his ear. "God, you're so stupid! Sometimes, I could just – " She stopped.

"What?" Robin challenged, even though he was in no place to. "Just kill me? You know, it's comments like those that really make me doubt whether or not you're going to let me go."

"Oh course I'm going to let you go, idiot." Artemis murmured. "I just needed a way to make it look like you were dead. They're tracking my movements and I think they have microphones planted to make sure that I'm not a spy." So he'd been right, she hadn't turned on them.

"Well I'm glad you're not trying to kill me." Robin tried to stand up again, but found that he couldn't move.

"Don't bother. You over-exerted yourself and now your body is trying to compensate. You won't be able to move for a few minutes."

"And what if I need to defend myself?"

"That's why I'm here. You're slow on the uptake today, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, I was drugged. By you. What the hell did you put in that stuff anyway?" Robin fired back. Artemis grinned; she'd missed him.

"Cyclosarin." Artemis replied, watching horror cross Robin's features.

"Chill, it was diluted, but it works on the nerves, which is why you can't move."

"You suck."

"You only say that 'cause you love me." Then Artemis stopped, hearing footsteps outside the door. Damn! She'd thought she'd lost them!

"The Light is coming." Artemis said urgently. She focused on the voices for a second. Sportsmaster was among them. Dammit! "Robin." Artemis said, desperate. "I am so, so sorry."

"What are you going to – " The boy's voice was choked off with a wet gurgle as Artemis unsheathed her knife and quickly stabbed it into his stomach. Just in time. Ra's and Sportsmaster opened the door just as Artemis stood and leaned against the wall, as if she'd been watching Robin bleed out for hours.

"Can I help you?" she asked dangerously.

"Oh no," Ra's said, sounding pleased. "Pity that there is no one around to help him, though." Ra's said, waving an airy hand at Robin, who couldn't speak, couldn't move, could only listen and wait to die.

"Just kill him and get it over with." Sportsmaster growled, back at the Light HQ. He and the other villains had all assembled to see proof of the new possible member's deed. There'd been some suspicion at her motives, after all, she had seen the clone of her boyfriend locked in a cyrochamber, but after killing the Boy Wonder, it was apparently true what they said about her: she had a split in her personality that made her lethal. It didn't hurt matters much that she came on excellent recommendation and she clearly had ties that could profit the entire group. The Joker, for one, seemed to consider her a personal friend. And anyone who was crazy enough to be on speaking terms with that wacko and survive was dangerous enough to get along with the rest of them.

"But, Daddy, he is my kill." Artemis protested gently. "And I don't want him to get off that easily. That boy owes me a hell of a lot of irritation." Sportsmaster grinned and threw an arm around his daughter.

"That's my girl. But it isn't safe to have the body here, it could be traced to us." Artemis bristled at the way he was talking about Robin, like he was already dead, but made sure not to show it or she was dead and then Robin had no chance. Vandal Savage – the self-proclaimed leader of the Light – threw open the closet door where Artemis had stashed Robin's body with a sick smile on his face. The Boy Wonder was still alive, but barely, his breathing ragged and shallow. His skin, already pale on a good day, was deathly white and sallow, cold like he was already dead. Robin was curled around the knife, clutching it like just holding on would keep him breathing.

The villains crowded forwards, each wanting a piece of the Boy Wonder, who'd caused them so much grief in the past. Klarion the Witch Boy surged toward him, but Artemis threw an arm out to bar his way.

"Back off," the demon whined petulantly. Artemis bared her teeth at him in response. The other Light members were getting antsy, thinking the the Witch Boy had the right idea. Queen Bee stepped up next.

"Come now, commoner, let us pass," she said imperiously, nose high in the air. Clearly, she expected Artemis to bow and scrape to her whims.

"You know, I hate people who think they're better than me." Artemis hissed. "Robin did too, and just look what happened to him."

Queen Bee sniffed. "Is that a threat?" Artemis closed the distance between them until they were nose to nose.

"Absolutely."

"Now, Tigress," Ra's said, trying to reason with her. Silly, he should have known that she didn't take well to logic. "You must share." And then there was a knife at his throat. Artemis snarled wordlessly, her posture feral all but screaming mine!

"After all, Tigress, you wouldn't want us to think you're going soft, feeling for your target." Every head turned as Robin barked out a weak, hacking laugh.

"If she felt for me...the bitch would've...slit my throat..." Robin shuddered and couldn't speak anymore. Artemis readjusted her position into a crouch in front of the door, daring any of them to try and get past her.

"Well then that settles it." Sportsmaster said, actually coming to Artemis's defense for the first time that she could remember.

"Besides," Artemis said grinning sadistically. "I've got a better idea."

Artemis was painfully aware of the tracking beacon embedded in her skin, but she couldn't pay that any mind right now. They thought that she was going to drop the body off at the Hall of Justice. They couldn't know that she was going to the cave instead. Pressing the button on the electro-pack that Robin had given her so long ago, she zapped the stupid thing with enough electricity to stun a bull elephant, frying the little bugger. Her signal would go dead at the Hall.

"Mount Justice!" Artemis screeched, rushing to the Zeta and bracing herself, making sure that the dying boy on her shoulder wouldn't be even more hurt on the journey. No one was in the control room.

GET IN HERE NOW! The strength of Artemis's mental shout was so intense that it actually reverberated in her mind and bounced back at her like an echo. M'gann was the first to appear and she was absolutely no help at all, clapping her hands over her mouth and accidentally levitating the couch into the air in her shock. Artemis lowered Robin onto the floor and turned for help, only to be slammed against the wall by Batman.

"What did you do to him?" he roared. Artemis tried to reply, but his armored forearm was pressed so tightly to her throat that she couldn't get out a sound. And then she could breathe again.

"Help him, you idiot!" Artemis screamed at Batman, who was being restrained by Connor and Kaldur. "Zatanna I need some kind of healing spell, just enough to buy time; M'gann get into his head and knock him out we don't have time for a hospital."

"No..." Robin and Megan protested at the same time.

"Do it!" Artemis shouted, not giving either of them a choice. M'gann's eyes glowed and Robin went limp. Limp-er. "Stay away." Artemis warned Batman. "If you rush me again, he will die." Hell, she wasn't even sure how he'd survived for this long. Artemis knelt next to his body, sucked in a deep breath and yanked the blade out of his stomach. Instantly, Robin's body convulsed and he started bleeding everywhere.

"You can do this?" Kaldur murmured, handing her the surgical thread and sterilized needle she'd asked for.

"Yes, I've done it before." Trying to stitch up people he father had knifed. Artemis didn't mention that none of them had ever been this bad. Or had lived. "Megan, keep him out. Zatanna, I need that spell!"

"!gnilaeh detsissA" Zatanna commanded. Artemis didn't have time to figure out what she did; she just sliced open her friend's stomach. It was bad.

"I will assist you." Kaldur insisted. Artemis nodded and the two of them went to work, stitching Robin back up. She didn't know how he managed it, but Kaldur was a bigger help than she'd counted on. It took too long, far too long, but within hours, Robin was in the infirmary.

Alive.

Barely.

"Kaldur, can you give me a moment?" Artemis asked in the broken whisper. The Atlantean hesitated – no doubt recalling that Artemis was the one who hauled Robin's broken body to the Cave in the first place. "Please."

"I will," he said finally. Artemis nodded gratefully.

Robin, she said, her mental voice soft. He wouldn't hear her now, but once he woke up, the message would play in his mind, like mental voice-mail. I'm sorry. Please believe me. I never meant for this to happen. But you need to know something: Red – Roy – is a clone. He was the mole, sent by the Light to infiltrate the League. The real Red is out there somewhere, and I have to find him. The Light blackmailed me. They'll kill him if I don't cooperate. Artemis stopped, her heart clenching. But this isn't goodbye. I'm not breaking my promise and I'm not leaving you. I – I... you won't see me, but I'll be around. Don't come looking for me. I'll find you. I'll always be there for you.

The Light thinks I killed you so stay hidden for a while. Find a new name, start a new life, a new identity. You'll pull through this. You always do. Artemis cut the connection, brushing Robin's raven hair out of the way so she could see his eyes, though they were closed. Slowly, she bent down, kissing his forehead before walking away.

Walking out of the Cave, away from her friends, her family, her home. Everything that she had come to love and care about over the past year.

See you on the flip side, Boy Wonder.

END OF BOOK 2