Chapter Text
Stephanie was going to die. She knew that already. She was slipping in and out of conscious after Black Masks latest round of torture. She didn’t know for sure how long she had been there, but she guessed it had been at least two days, long enough for her to be rescued. She wondered if the others even noticed that she was gone, she wondered if they cared. Stephanie had resigned herself to the fact that she was going to die here, at least she could die knowing she didn’t reveal any info Black Mask wanted, could die with that point of pride at least. While she sat there tied up, Stephanie started to look back through her life, all of it from her earliest memory. As she thought through all she remembered she felt angry. Why her? Why was it her born with such a shitty hand in life? Why was it her who had the cards stacked against her so high she could never hope to beat it? The closer she got to the present, the angrier she got. She did nothing to deserve her treatment from Batman and the other heros. All she wanted to do was help people, and they acted as though they had the sole contract to the Gotham vigilante jobs. Stephanie let out as much of a dry laugh as she could, she understood it now. Her tenure as Robin was never meant to last, she was just bait to get Tim fucking Drake back into it. That’s all she was in the end, a means to an end, something to be used to get what he wanted then disposed of, that's all she ever was, to Arthur, to Dean, and to Batman. As Steph was fuming with rage, she realized how heavy her eyelids were, maybe she would just close them for a moment, then she would go back to hating her shitty life even more than she already did. Then the door opened in front of her, Stephanie perked up slightly, maybe this was Batman or Cass coming to save her. Then her vision cleared slightly, and she saw it was Black Mask. She knew she shouldn't be as disappointed as she was then, no one had ever saved her before, why would they bother now? Black Mask stared at her for a moment, Stephanie was pretty sure he was talking but she couldn't hear him. Then he pulled out a pistol. Stephanie was kind of surprised, she didn't think he was the type to finish it off for her, she expected him to let her die slowly of her wounds. She lowered her head and accepted her fate. She was pretty sure a purple light engulfed the room, but she figured it was just what hell looked like, that's where she deserved to go after starting this gang war. As she felt herself get lifted up and taken away, she heard a loud bang, and felt a pain in her stomach before it all went dark.
Artemis was happy. She was sitting in the mount justice kitchen with the rest of the team. They were celebrating the new members of the team. They all seemed like good kids, and the fact they joined made her feel less guilty about leaving with Wally. It had been three years since the Justice League were controlled by Savage. Her and Wally were hardly kids any more, and seeing what could happen if they stayed in the game, they decided to get out. They were going to announce it within the week, after the new kids were settled in.
Speaking of the new kids, she could see Jamie chatting with Garfield. The death of his mother made Artemis feel horrible considering they indirectly caused it, though she was glad they could give him a new home. She saw Cassie eating by herself. She was a nervous girl despite her power, but Artemis was confident she would come out of her shell soon. Then she saw La’gaan and Karen talking. She liked Karen well enough, her abilities were useful and she was nice, La’gaan on the other hand she wasn’t sure about. She didn’t know what went down between M’gann and Conner, but she did know that La’gaan hit on her soon after they broke up. He also held himself in a certain way that she was wary about. Finally she saw Tim, Barbara and Dick talking at the counter. She wasn’t surprised Dick was leaving, he was as old as her and Wally so it was expected for her to leave. Tim and Barabra seemed like good people so she was happy to have them. She felt arms wrap around her waist and a quick kiss pressed to her check. She smiled knowing who it was. She glanced to her right and saw Wally. While she would be sad to leave the hero business she was happy it was to spend her life with him.
“Whatcha thinking about?” he asked.
“Just thinking, nothing in particular.” she responded.
Wally hummed and stared out at the group before them, “Not a batch of newbies huh?”
Artemis nodded, “Not at all, makes me feel better about leaving.”
Wally nodded, “They’ll never be able to replace my charm but this may be the closest they’ll get.”
Artemis let out a laugh at that, she was about to respond when suddenly a purple light engulfed the room. As it went away Artemis looked around the room, everything was the same except for one key difference. In the middle of the room was a girl, tied down to a chair. She was wearing a purple costume and had blond hair. She was also covered in wounds and blood, Artemis could see several holes in her, one of which in her stomach was actively bleeding. She was slumped over as though she was dead. Suddenly Conner spoke up
“I hear a heartbeat, it's weak but it's there.” he said.
Dick moved forward, “Wally prep the med bay. Artemis, Conner help me carry her there.”
Wally nodded and rushed off. Artemis moved with Conner and cut the girl loose. Artemis was silently glad she didn’t wake up as they picked her up and moved her to the medbay. As she set down the girl onto the bed Tim and Dick rushed up to the girls side and started to apply aid. Artemis and Conner stood there for a moment before leaving, it wasn’t like they could do anything to help. Artemis stood at the doorway for a moment watching them help her. She hoped the girl made it.