With These Hands

-[Artemis]-

She didn't know if she could do this. It was one thing to lie to strangers and acquaintances, Liam was a friend, one of the very few ones she had. 

Lying to him would leave a bad taste in her mouth and she knew it. Those thoughts kept her tense as she sat at a table in a local diner. 

She barely kept herself from jumping every time someone walked in. She cursed her father internally for this. 

For a moment, she considered just meeting Vincent herself under the guise of friendship but she couldn't. It meant she'd have to get very close to him to get enough information to satisfy her dad. 

'What would Liam think if he saw us together?' She thought before stopping herself. 'Why do I care so much about what he thinks?'

She knew why but she didn't want to admit it. Thankfully, she was saved from her internal crisis as the person responsible for it walked through the door. It didn't take him more than a moment to get sight of her and head over. 

"Hey, sorry I took so long to get here. I had to help a friend with something." He said easily as he sat opposite her. 

"It's alright. I haven't been here long." She lied before focusing on his statement. "So, who were you helping?"

Maybe it would give her some information. 

"Well he's not exactly my friend. He's an old friend of my mom. Anyways, he wanted some help with some paperwork so I went over." He explained. 

Giving him a weird look, she couldn't help the laugh that came out of her mouth. 

"What?" He asked in confusion. 

"Since when did you do paperwork?" She questioned. He gave her a deadpan look that only made her laugh further.

"For your information I'm good with numbers and I give great advice." He argued as a waitress came to take their order. 

"Says the guy that thought it was a good idea to mix coffee and apple juice." She shot back with a creased brow. 

"Now that was a great idea, just poor execution." He said as if he was totally right. "A chicken salad and some juice." He said to the waitress who then turned to her. 

"I'll have the same." She said, watching the woman write on her small notepad before leaving. Now facing Liam again, she saw a smug smile on his face. "What?"

"My decisions are so wonderful you're even following my culinary choices." He joked, leaning back to avoid her attempt at smacking him with the menu. 

They had a good laugh for a while before he looked at her with a strange look, concern. "Is everything alright? You looked a bit tense when I got here."

Oh right. She'd already forgotten why she called him here.

"Yeah everything's fine. I just haven't had much sleep lately." It wasn't a lie, she'd been having trouble sleeping since Crusher dropped this job on her. 

Now she was sounding like Jade. Just great. 

"Any particular reason why you can't sleep?" He asked. The concern on his face was evident. Guilt came rushing once more. 

"I can't think of anything."

"Well if you're having trouble sleeping, I think I know something that might help." He said, reaching inside his pocket to pull out a small wrapped item. 

It looked like a tea bag. "I'm not smoking weed with you." She said, though the small smirk on her face told that she was joking. 

"It's not weed. It's a herbal tea. It helps to calm the nerves." He said, passing it over to her. "If you don't like it, I'll give you a full refund."

"I'm not even paying you." She laughed. 

"That is true." Liam said before letting out a dramatic sigh. "The things I do for my friends."

Guilt, thy name is Artemis. 

"First paperwork, now tea? Who are you?" She shot back. 

"A man of many talents." He answered, winking at her. Her brain paused for a moment, her thoughts running amok before noticing the knowing grin on his face. 

"Screw you." She said, looking away but that didn't stop her from hearing his laughter nor did it stop her from joining him a moment later. "You're an ass."

"That is also true."

Wasn't she supposed to be doing something again?

-[Hours Later]-

Walking into her apartment and shutting the door behind her, she could barely suppress the smile on her lips. They'd only hung out at the cafe but she had fun. 

A lot of fun. There weren't awkward silences or uncomfortable moments. It was an escape from this building. 

Her mood plummeted when she noticed the shadow of a figure crouching at her window. 

"Someone seems to be in a good mood." Sportsmaster said in a mocking tone. 

"What are you doing here?" She ground out. 

The man hauled himself in, towering over her. "I gave you a job but you don't really seem motivated."

Her frown deepened. "I'm handling it."

"You're stalling. Does 'handling it' mean going on a date?" Her father said in a knowing tone. 

Her eyes widened. He saw them together! That was bad, very very bad. 

"I'm handling it. He's Vincent's best friend, if I can get close to him then I can get more information on Vincent without him knowing." She said, trying to rationalize her approach. 

She honestly didn't know who she was trying to convince. 

"Is that so? Well I guess you'll be happy to know that as of now you've been relieved of your job." He said with a smirk that she knew he wore under his hockey mask. 

"What?" She knew him. He wouldn't just give up like that. There had to be something. 

"Like you said, he's the kid's best friend. If we want to know anything, we can just ask him." With that, Lawrence Crock left through the window he came, finding joy in Artemis' horrified look. 

This was all her fault. Because of her, Liam was going to get into some serious trouble. Her mind waged war against her before she finally decided, rushing into her room. 

It didn't take long before she was garbed in a green outfit, a quiver on her back and a bow in her grasp. 

She had to find him before her dad did. 

-[Later]-

It took her a while to get to his apartment and with each minute that passed, her heart beat faster. She tried calling him but the number was unreachable, adding to her worries. 

He'd offhandedly told her where he stayed so she didn't have to search long before she was across the building, staring at his window through binoculars. 

She just barely caught a figure dressed in black crawling in through the window. 'The league of assassins!' She realized. 

Her dad hired the league!?

A shot from a zipper line arrow and she was sliding towards the window. Bracing herself as she got closer, she pushed forward, going through the window that the assassin left open. 

Rolling to a stand with an arrow drawn, she paused in confusion at the sight she had crashed in on. 

The would-be assassin lay on their back on the floor, unconscious while Liam looked down at them. His eyes shot to her in surprise. 

"Artemis?"

Oh crap.