Not As It Seems

deal

When Jade came too, she took in a familiar sight. She was behind bars, with Artemis glowering on the otherside. Jade smirked, sitting up to waggle her fingers in a mock wave at her younger sister. "Hey, sis. What's up?"

"Don't you 'hey sis' me! You tried to kill my friends! Again." Artemis crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her older sister.

"Technically, I didn't try to kill anyone. That was Red that tried to kill your friends." Jade stood up to stretch, keeping her eyes locked with Artemis.

"And who is this 'Red'? I know you know."

Jade's smirk grew. "I'm not telling." She sang, revelling in the glare her sister was sending her way.

Artemis went to say more but was cut off by another, gruffer voice. "That's enough, Artemis. I'll take it from here." Artemis huffed, stomping past Batman as he entered the room. Once the door slammed closed behind Artemis, he turned to Jade with a stoic expression. "I know you don't actually know who Red is, that much is obvious."

Jade shrugged. "What was your first guess?" Bruce said nothing. Jade sighed, sitting down on the chair that was within her cell. "I may not know his identity, but I know he's young. Younger than Artemis. And that something about him drew the attention of Ra's Al Ghul, which irks me for some reason. Ra's treats him like a special pet. Or he did, until-"

"Deathstroke took over." Batman surprised Jade with his knowledge. She went to question this when Batman pulled up a small holographic screen on his gauntlet. Her eyes widened to see footage of the auction from Red's point of view. "Jason Todd. That's his name."

Jade's brain went into a whirl wind as she remembered why Red's mannerisms seemed so familiar. She had met Jason before, a few times when Artemis would bring him around the house. She was quite fond of the boy and was honestly a tad upset when she heard he had died. She turned to Batman with a harsh look. "If you have this footage then that means-"

"Red works for me, yes."

"So you willingly had one of your proteges indicted into the League of Shadows after his resurrection. You're despicable." Jade spat.

"Jason knows the risks. He came to me with the plan of faking his death so he could infiltrate the League. We just didn't have the opportunity to fake it, unfortunately." Batman grimaced. "But now, Cheshire, I need your help."

Jade scoffed indignantly. "Why would I ever help you?"

"I know you have a soft spot for Jason and so does your sister, Artemis. She is offering to do the same thing as Jason, fake her death to infiltrate the League. You can prevent this, if you help me."

Jade thought about it. "I'm listening."

"Red has been compromised. He was supposed to deliver Control to me so I could destroy it. But once he pushed you out of the helicopter Deathstroke got his hands on the coding for Control and now has Red completely under his thumb." Batman sighed. "I need you to be my eyes and ears within the League. No one will suspect you, you have a history of going rogue for your family, and you can protect Artemis this way."

Jade grunted. "Fine."

"Oh and one more thing. No one on the team knows Jason is still alive. That is between me, you, and the Shadows."

Jade snorted back a laugh. "How fitting."

Batman stood up and unlocked Jade's cell, leading her down the hallway towards the exit. He stopped her before she left. "You will report to me three times a week, no less. And please, make sure Red is okay." Jade nodded, running off into the night.

Batman sighed, knowing he made a deal with the devil. But he would do anything to get his son back.

"You let her go? Batman, why?" Artemis snapped, getting up in Batman's face.  "We finally had her and you let her walk. I don't believe this."

Batman didn't say anything, brushing past Artemis in the hallway towards the waiting team, all of whom were in various states of surprise at Batman's actions. They hadn't seen him release Jade but had heard of it from Artemis' yelling.

"You are no longer on the team, Artemis. You do not get a say in this." Batman grunted, heading towards the zeta tubes.

"Yeah, well, I want back on the team."

Batman just nodded, stepping into the tubes and disappearing, leaving behind a disgruntled Artemis and a confused team.

"He let Cheshire go?" Bart asked, finally coming back from the infirmary.

"Way to keep up." Artemis snapped, taking a deep breath. "Sorry, just a little stressed. I mean, why would he do that?"

Dick shrugged. "Batman always has his reasons. But what are you going to tell Wally now that you are back on the team?"

Artemis groaned. "I'll think of something, but for now, let's get me back in shape, shall we?"

"Please, Artemis, its you. You're always in shape." Artemis snorted at Dick's words but smiled nonetheless. "Come on, we just got back from a mission. Let's go watch a movie or something."

Artemis debated joining them but decided she shouldn't put off her conversation with Wally, so she left to go talk with her boyfriend leaving her team to hang out at the mountain and decompress.

When Artemis got to the apartment she shared with Wally she felt her nerves spike. She wasn't sure she could do this, but knew she had to. So, swallowing her anxiety, she entered her apartment to find Wally doing homework at the table.

"Hey babe..." She started, taking a seat across from him. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Let me guess, you joined the team again." He chuckled. When she didn't say anything he looked up from his homework and groaned. "Artemis, we talked about this."

"I know, I know. But I can't shake the feeling that there is unfinished business for me there!" Wally sighed. "We had Jade and Batman let her go."

"So you rejoin the team?" Wally cried out incredulously. When Artemis didn't reply he sighed in frustration. "Fine, but I'm joining too. I need to make sure you're okay." Artemis went to protest this but Wally gave her a look. "If you can be on the team, so can I."

Artemis put her hands up in surrender before putting them in her lap. "So, I guess we're heroes again."

"I guess so."