Chapter Thirteen:

AN: Not entirely happy with this chapter, but I've made you all wait long enough. Also, this code issue is killing me- thanks to everyone who pointed it out for me

Disclaimer: Two years since my last update but still I do not own Young Justice or any other featured DC characters. All characters belong to their rightful owners and this is written purely as a non-for-profit, fan story. More AN below

NOW, to the story -

Palo Alto
March 03rd, 2016
22:30 (10:30 pm)

Staring at the cursive written names, Wally narrows his eyes further, flipping it over to examine the two figures beside Dick once more. The cushion beside him shifts as Artemis lowers herself onto the lounge beside her boyfriend, silently offering the wineglass in her hand to him. The redhead takes the wine glass wordlessly before leaning back into the lounge, dropping the picture onto the coffee table with an exasperated sigh.

"How did he not tell me…," Wally pauses, his free hand curling into a fist, "I mean, fuck, even Bruce has no idea who these kids are!"

"Maybe Dick didn't want to talk about it, Walls... You saw everything going on in his head, he probably… didn't know how to approach the subject."

"That's not the point, Artemis! I thought we told each other everything… What else has he kept from me all these years?!"

Artemis lets out a sigh as she leans into her boyfriend, wrapping her free hand around his upper arm. "I'm sure he had good reason not to bring them up…" She's silent as she plans her next words, tightening her grasp in support, "… Maybe the memories are too painful?"

Wally frowns, but nods wordlessly, nonetheless. His fist unclenches as the anger leaves his body. It made sense; Dick's always been a people person, and maybe it's because of that that he didn't want to "burden" others with his emotional baggage.

'Self-righteous prick,' The redhead thinks bitterly, fingers curling into Artemis'. Leaning into the archer more, Wally takes a small sip of his drink and blinks carefully, frowning as he lowers the glass. "You realize my metabolism means this isn't going to do anything for me right?"

A pout replaces the grim look on Artemis' face as she elbows Wally in the gut- a weak attempt to lighten the mood. "Maybe not, but it's worth a shot after the day you've had. So just shut up and drink it, Baywatch…"

"Fine, fine; just let me go shower first and then we'll put on a movie and unwind." Artemis hums in response as Wally untangles himself from her, bare feet tapping against the hard-wood floor as he moves to the bathroom.

As the (mostly) retired hero leaves, Artemis' attention shifts from her boyfriend's retreating figure to the photo now sitting on her coffee table. Her frown deepens as she locks eyes with the bright blue of Dick's eyes and the cheeky grin across his face.

Reaching for her phone only after she hears Wally turn the shower faucet on, Artemis searches through her contacts. Her fingers hover over the keyboard as she struggles with what to type.

'You ever hear Dick mention the names, Raya or Raymond?'

She practically throws the phone back onto the coffee table the moment she's sent the text, shaking her head. She shouldn't be doing this, what if it's another dead end? She'd be breaking her and Wally's hearts all over again. Besides, didn't she just tell Wally to drop it? And god, what if Ba-

Her phone chimes moments later, causing Artemis to lunge for the device. 'NEW MESSAGE: FROM BARB' illuminates the screen as she unlocks it.

B: 'Don't think so, sorry'

Artemis huffs.

B: 'Y? Possible lead?'

She bites her thumbnail nervously as she struggles to come up with a reasonable excuse for the sudden question. She can't put Barbara through this again.

A: 'Nah, Wally just found a bunch of his old stuff he left here when we were helping him move from before he… disappeared. Had a couple of photos with people we didn't recognize in them and thought maybe you'd know them from school'

B: 'Oh… okay. Just, keep me posted? B has isolated himself- again. Hasn't spoken to Tim, Alf or Jay in D A Y S.

…typing...

B: Not that Jason would answer at the moment- He hasn't spoken to B since they got back from searching Dick's apartment. Tim's super stressed about it'

A:'Can you blame the kid? Must be hell there right now
- No offence.'

B: 'Oh yeah, I totally agree- hence why I've been steering clear and helping Dad at work.'

…typing...

B: 'You think we'll see him again?
-Dick, I mean'

A: 'Of course we will. We couldn't get rid of that troll even if we tried…
Anyway, Talk to you tomorrow Barb x'

…typing...

…typing...

…typing...

B: 'Goodnight Artemis'

Tibet
March 05th 2016
23:45 (11:45 pm)

Renegade grunts as his foot connects with the guard, the man's spear clattering to the stone beside his now unconscious form.

Dick takes a moment to look at the man's garment, noting the red robe draped over his shoulder and crimson silk cloth hiding the bottom half of his face. After a second, Renegade glances over the look-out towers railing to watch as another patrol strolls around the base of the building. Crouching under the large bell hanging overhead to avoid being seen, Renegade silently flips open the trap door and drops inside.

Quickly slinking into the shadows, Dick descends the stairs with his swords drawn, pausing to let two guards pass by before darting out the passageway. Red and oak pillars, golden pots and aged stone statues fly past the ebony as he sneaks through the complex, eyes narrowing as he nears another patrol.

Drawing out his sword, the mercenary strikes the hilt of his sword into one of the guard's head. The guard's eyes roll into the back of his head as he sags to the ground, the other not getting a chance to react as an arm is suddenly around his neck, restricting airflow. After a few seconds, the guard goes limp in Dick's arm. Just as the hero is about to pull the two guards into the shadows, the doors adjacent suddenly creaked open, a patrol strolling in. Eyes locking onto the scene before him, the guard shouts, drawing his spear on the frowning man before him. Immediately more guards rush the room, shouting at one another as they slowly surround Renegade.

Dick's frown deepens.

Haly's Circus| Gotham City
March 05th 2016
21:30 (9:30 pm)

The smell of popcorn fills the air as children dash around after one another, weaving through the crowd to rush ahead. Lights fill the circus ground, the warm yellow glow cutting through the smoke-filled streets of Gotham as applause pours from the red and white tent the blonde stands in front of.

Artemis watches as people begin to exit the tent, smiling and chatting about what they had witnessed inside.

A young girl tugs on her mother's coat, jumping excitedly up and down, "-Did you see how that man lifted that MASSIVE rock!?"

The woman's mother giggles, nodding her head. "I did," she replies with a grin, "but I still can't get over how cute that elephant was though! I mean-"

Artemis smiles as she casually walks past them into the big top, pausing at the size of the tent; it was huge, with wooden bleachers lining the building, a large podium illuminated by the spotlight overhead. An aging man grunts as he lowers himself off the podium, a tired sigh escaping his lips.

"Mr. Haley?" Artemis greets politely, causing the man to spin around with a start. Haley's eyes widen at the woman before him, before a kind smile spreads across his face.

"Oh my, sorry my dear- you've just missed the show! We're open for another hour, but you won't be able to see any acts until next spring when we return to Gotham."

Artemis shakes her head, "Actually, Mr. Haly… I'm not a customer. I'm not sure if you remember me, but back in 2010-"

"2010? …Ah, yes I remember, "Haly says with a knowing wink, a small amused smile on his lips, "Diane Danger, was it?"

"The name's actually Artemis, I'm-"

"A friend of Dick's?"

Artemis nods. Haly lets out a defeated sigh, turning away from the woman as he suddenly goes quiet. After a moment, the man rubs the back of his neck as he lowers himself to sit on some stacked crates to Artemis' right. "I suppose you want to offer your sympathies then, like everyone else?"

"What-?" Artemis cuts herself off, realizing Dick is still dead to the rest of the world. She'd gotten so caught up in dodging Wally to check out her lead that she'd forgotten outside of the Justice League and the Team, no one knew about Dick's current situation. "Oh. No, not exactly. I was actually hoping you could tell me a bit about this photo?"

Turning around, Haly takes the offered photo, his smile bittersweet as he takes the image in. "This was taken before the Grayson's last show… God, Dick looks so happy."

Artemis is first to break the heavy silence that follows. "Who are the kids either side of him?"

"Raya and Raymond- the three were inseparable. The little rascals would do almost everything together… eat, train, play- the whole lot… they even made their chores into a competition to see who could complete them the fastest without touching the ground," tears begin to pool in the old man's eyes as he lets out a chuckle, his voice wavering," Dick was hanging off Harvey- our strongman- for two hours straight!"

Artemis smiles a little, remembering a bet Dick made with Wally back when he was Robin about a similar scenario, with Connor subbing for Harvey. "Sounds about right."

"It was different after his parents died though… Child Protective Services sent Dick to Juvie after his parents died- some bullshit about all the orphanages being full and my circus being too financially unstable to support him…" Haley's fists curl into a fist as he shakes. "He uh… stopped taking our calls after a while- made Raya and Raymond think he forgot or stopped caring about them… Of course, we didn't know they were mistreating him until after Wayne had taken him in and there was a court hearing about it. He retreated into himself more after that- we didn't hear from him for months.

"By the time he called 3 months later though, Raya was laughing through sobs as she joked with him… Raymond, on the other hand, couldn't bear to hear Dick's voice after so long; refused to speak to him. A few weeks later, Raymond just… disappeared. We thought he uh, couldn't handle losing Dick and... well…"

Artemis nods sadly but raises an eyebrow at Haley's choice of words. "Thought?" She repeats, furrowing her brows.

"A couple of years back, we were proven wrong. Raymond returned to the circus, but something was… off. He was furious- was the first time we'd seen him like… that…"

Raymond screams, throwing his arm into the stack of boxed stage supplies, the equipment clattering to the dusted earth below with a loud crash. Immediately Jim- the circus' resident clown- shudders, staggering back from the enraged man before him.

"WHERE. IS. HALY?!"

"…Raymond?"

Raymond snaps his head towards the man behind him, black, scarred eyes narrowing dangerously at Haly. Haly goes to speak, but before he gets a chance Raymond lunges at him- hands restricting around his throat.

"Raymond had been taken by some… dangerous people. They transformed him into something wrong. He was a- a monster… and he wanted revenge."

"HEY!" A familiar voice shouts before suddenly Raymond is being torn away from Haly, "Get away from him!"

Raymond reacts instantly, spinning around and using the momentum to punch the stranger in the face. The blow never connects, however, as the man ducks below, punching Raymond's side in retaliation. The man grunts as he flips back out the way of an oncoming kick. The distance between the two gives the ebony a chance to view Raymond, and the man gasps as recognition flashes across his face.

"Raymond?" he mumbles, eyebrows drawing together, "but you're-"

"-Dead?" he finishes, mouth curling into a snarl, "Exactly, Dick... I was your friend, family, even!" Raymond snarls, drawing a knife from his belt sheath. "And you killed me!"

Swinging his knife through the air, Raymond growls as he misses Dick's carotid artery, the blade barely breaking the skin.

"I don't want to think about what he would have done had Dick not come by to visit… He was just as shocked as the rest of us… Then Raymond started spouting some crazy nonsense about some sort of 'light' taking him and… well…"

Raymond sneered, "The Light came from the shadows and took me, Dick. They kidnapped me after you left… tortured me… All because Haley let Themtake me for years. Until They no longer needed me and handed me off to Him."

Still unsure if Raymond was truly standing before him, Dick chooses his next words carefully, "Who's 'He'?"

"Slade; Someone I'm told you know very well…" He smirks when he sees the horror flash across Dick's face before suddenly Raymond's face suddenly contorts into a snarl. "Even outside of this fucking circus I was still always compared to you. Slade always asked for more. More. MORE. But I was never enough for him. Never you."

Artemis visibly stiffens, grip tightening around her handbag strap as the name Slade drums inside her head. Haly doesn't seem to notice, a grim frown forming on his lips.

"Raymond convinced Raya to help him and used this place," Haly gestures to the big top around the two as he continues, "against Dick… Raymond died trying to burn us to the ground. They found his body a few hours later after the cops finally arrived."

"And Raya?"

Artemis pretends not to see the tears welling in the man's eyes, suddenly feeling as though acknowledging them would be invasive.

"Found dead in her cell. H-her throat was slit, apparently by some rogue inmate. But I have no doubt the people responsible for taking Raymond had something to do with it- Probably thought she knew too much."

'Or Slade finally found a way to break Dick,' Artemis can't stop the horrific possibility that comes to mind.

Hugging Haly goodbye, Artemis promises to check in again sometime soon.

Tibet
March 06th 2016
00:03 (12:03 am)

Dick grunts as he tightens his legs around the final guard's neck, the guard digging his nails into the ebony's arm in an effort for freedom. He gasps for air as his face slowly turns a shade of blue, Dick releasing his hold only once the guard stills. Panting, the mercenary rises with a groan before glancing the various unconscious- not dead, never again- forms now littering the hall.

Dick's attention then turns to the sealed door in front of him as he removes two small explosive disks from one of the pockets of his belt. The two are thrown at the door, burying themselves half into the heavy wood. Seconds later an explosion shakes the building as the doors burst inwards, thick black smoke masking Dick's entrance.

Inside, a thin layer of ice clings to the stainless-steel walls, soft blue lights illuminating the room as a cryo-chamber looms in the centre of the room. A humanoid silhouette is barely visible through the foggy glass of the pod.

Dick's finger hovers over the control panel in a moment of hesitation before he types in the access code. The man takes a step back to let the chamber door open, a loud hiss following as the pod depressurizes. Suddenly a red-headed figure falls limply from the pod. Dick grunts as the unconscious teen falls into his arms, the sudden force driving the mercenary back a few steps.

Instantly recognition sparks across Dick's face, the unconscious form in his arms none other than 15-year-old Roy Harper. The teen looks exactly as he did prior to his disappearance, with one stark difference: a bandaged stump where his lower right arm used to be. Moving past his shock- another thing to deal with later, he muses- Dick carefully lifts the teen into his arms and makes his way back to the roof.

"Let's get you back home."

AN:
Holy fuck, welcome to the END of March of 2019. Jesus just two years since my last update. Basically- a bunch of shit happened in my personal life (graduated high school, started Uni, metric fuck-tonne of family stuff, etc.) but I'm back now…

Apparently so is Young Justice with season 3

Coincidence?

…

Yes, totally.

Anyway, please know, I never stopped writing and rewriting my stories (yes, I mean all of them- both published and not) and never stopped thinking of all of you guys.

Hope you're all doing well in 2019 and thanks for sticking with me through the years. See ya next chapter