Artemis

SIX

Please don't make any sudden moves

You don't know the half of the abuse

— Heathens, Twenty One Pilots

➵

"We're screwed," Ari said, as she paced back and forth in front of Finn, who was seated on the couch in the apartment. He had a wet cloth in his hand, which he was now pressing to Phoebe's forehead as she lay on her back, unconscious. Ari didn't know how much good that would do, and it didn't seem as if it was affecting the sleeping girl in any way. She felt helpless as she watched him.

"Will you quit that?" Finn asked, giving her an irritated look.

Ari paused long enough to stick her tongue out at him and continued pacing. It didn't completely get rid of the panic within her, but it helped her think. "So, we've definitely ruled out killing her then?"

Finn glared. "Ari, we're not going to kill a pregnant girl—"

"I know!" Ari cut in. She sighed and tugged at her ponytail, sitting down on the coffee table across from him. It creaked beneath her weight, and she immediately got up again. "I know. Out of the question."

Finn turned the cloth over in his hands and pressed it to the girl's forehead again. She twitched. "We could tell Bishop we don't want the mission anymore."

She scoffed, though the thought had come to her at first. She'd dismissed it quickly, of course, knowing better. "Don't be dense, Finn. Bishop tasked us with killing her obviously knowing that she was pregnant. You think he won't take matters into his own hands once we've told him?"

He looked at her with a defeated expression. "You're right," he said, then scrunched up his nose. "Never thought I'd say that."

"Shut up," she replied with a scowl. "This is serious. What do we do?"

Finn looked down at the girl. "We have to hide her."

She let out a humorless laugh. "That's easier said than done—"

She stopped when Phoebe's eyes flew open, wide as she took in the sight before her. Finn opened his mouth to speak, but she sat up with a sudden gasp, pushing herself back against the couch and pressing a hand to her stomach protectively.

"What—who are you?" she asked, alarmed. "Why are you in my house?"

Ari shared a look with Finn as he stood up. He took a step towards the girl, stilling as she got up and backed away from him. He held out a hand, like he was talking to a frightened animal. "We're not going to hurt you," he said.

The girl's eyes shifted to Ari. Slowly, fear and recognition bloomed across her face as her gaze traveled from Ari's mask to the quiver full of arrows strapped to her back, an expression Ari had often seen on her victims' faces just before she put an arrow through their chest.

"You," Phoebe said with rising panic in her voice. "I know you. You're Artemis." Her eyes flitted back and forth between Finn and Ari as realization seemed to dawn upon her. "You're assassins." She stumbled back, eyes darting to the door.

"Wait!" Finn said, reaching her before she could get any farther, close enough that he would be able to block her path to the door.

"Get away from me," Phoebe said, moving backwards again.

Finn looked helplessly at Ari, silently communicating. She sighed. She knew what he meant by that look, knew she had to do it, no matter how vulnerable it would make her feel. Swallowing down bile, she took her mask off, then removed her quiver, slowly, hesitantly, and set them on the coffee table next to her bow. She held up her hands. "Like he said, we're not going to hurt you."

The girl pressed another hand to her stomach and looked at Ari. Ari felt practically naked as Phoebe took in the features of Ari's face that she hadn't been able to see before. Her skin prickled. "Then what do you want?"

Finn looked at Ari again. "We were sent to kill you," he said truthfully. "But we're not going to," he added quickly, before she could react. "Walter Bishop. Have you heard of that name?"

Phoebe looked slightly nauseous. She nodded, swallowing. "Yes."

"He was the one that sent us," Finn replied. "To kill you. Do you know why?"

Phoebe paled. She sat down on a stool nearby, hand protectively over her stomach. She gave them a wary look and nodded again, bangs falling into her eyes. "I think-I think so."

Finn waited for her to elaborate, and when she didn't, he sighed. "You can trust us," he said.

Phoebe's expression made it look like that was the furthest thing from the truth. She scoffed. "Why should I trust you? You said it yourself, you came here to kill me."

Finn shook his head, opening his mouth to speak, but Ari cut in. "Trust me, sweetheart, if we wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead."

"Ari," Finn said, glaring.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "And that's supposed to make me trust you?"

"No," Finn cut in, before Ari could say anything. "It's not. But as terrible as it sounds, Ari's right. We're not going to kill you."

Phoebe glared at them both, but with a sigh, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she seemed to have come to some sort of decision. "Fine. You want to know why?" She paused and took a breath. "Bishop's son, Beck, was my boyfriend. Bishop never approved of our relationship. I was some poor slum rat, Beck was the son of one of the city's richest men." Her tone had turned bitter. "After—after I got pregnant, he forced Beck to break up with me. He said it would ruin their family's reputation—he said I would ruin it, if me and Eric decided to, you know, start a family."

There was a silence, in which Ari struggled to piece all this information together. She still couldn't comprehend how this would lead to Bishop wanting to kill her. Finn seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

"Not to be insensitive, but that still doesn't explain why he wanted us to kill you," he said gently.

She rubbed her stomach almost soothingly, as if to comfort herself. "Because, Beck's been sending me money, and we've been meeting up in secret the past few nights-and oh, God, he must've found out somehow, and now—" Phoebe broke off. She buried her face in her hands. She wasn't crying, but her body seemed to be shaking. She took another deep breath. "Bishop warned me. He said if I bothered his son again he'd kill me, but I didn't think . . ." She trailed off.

Finn looked at Ari again, unsure what to do. Her mouth pulled down in a frown. She walked up to where Phoebe was seated, crouching down so they were eye level, and patted her knee, feeling extremely awkward. Ari had never been good at comforting people. Phoebe flinched slightly but didn't back away.

"Um, listen, Phoebe," Ari said. She scratched the back of her neck, unsure how to go about telling her that she would have to go in hiding, that she was in danger. Deciding that there was no possible way to sugarcoat the situation, she opted for bluntness. "If you stay here, you're going to die."

Phoebe stared at Ari. Then she stood up, pointing at the door. "Get out of my house."

"No, wait—" Finn ran a hand through his hair and turned to glare at Ari.

She held up her hands. "What? I tried, okay?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just stay back and don't say a word." He turned to Phoebe. "I know this may seem sudden, but you need to trust us. It's not safe here anymore. Bishop wants you dead-he's expecting you to be dead-and when he finds out that you're not, he's going to come after you. Your home is going to be the first place he checks."

Phoebe was listening to Finn, expression sour. She scowled. "This is happening too fast. I don't even know you. I—" She shook her head. "Okay, fine. Let's say I do decide to trust you. What then? Where will you take me? And for how long?"

"We...still haven't figured that part out yet," Finn replied a little sheepishly.

Phoebe looked furious, a surprisingly fierce expression. "So what I'm hearing is that you have no idea what you're doing, yet you expect me to follow you blindly?"

"That is exactly what we expect you to do," Ari said, smile widening into a grin.

Finn glared at her. "Ari— "

"Forget it." Phoebe sat up. She took several steps back. "You both need to leave. Right now. This is insane. I'm not coming with you."

Finn ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. Ari had the strangest urge to smooth it down. "Phoebe, please. You need to think about this for a moment—" Finn struggled for words. "Think about your baby's safety."

Phoebe glared at him. "You asshole," she said. "You don't think that's all I've been doing? Every second of every day—"

Finn looked dumbfounded, holding up his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Just shut up for a second," she cut in. Finn closed his mouth. She looked down, swallowing, and laid her hands gently on her stomach. "I need time," she said softly, without looking up.

Ari shook her head. "We don't have time. Bishop's watching us."

Finn looked at her, startled. "How do you know?"

"Gut feeling," Ari replied.

"That doesn't seem like a reliable source-"

"And he implied as much to me, the other day."

Finn's eyes widened. "You think that was a threat?"

"Definitely." Ari turned to Phoebe. "So? What do you say? You want to come with us to safety, or stay here to die?"

Phoebe sighed. "I don't really have a choice in the matter, do I?"

"There's always a choice," Ari replied.

"Not always," said Finn. Ari looked at him, confused, but he didn't meet her eyes. He nodded at Phoebe. "If you're coming with us, you should pack your things."

Phoebe looked between the both of them, swallowing again. Her face hardened as she came to a decision. "Okay," she replied. "Just give me a few seconds."

Ari turned to Finn. She wanted to ask him what he'd meant by not always, but she pushed the question away. "So what's the plan?" she asked instead.

He blinked in surprise. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're the one with a plan, remember? And I'm the reckless one who leaps blindly into the situation."

He crossed his arms. "I don't know."

She rolled her eyes. "That's helpful." She closed her eyes, thinking. Where could she hide a pregnant girl, somewhere secret and hidden, somewhere Bishop would never think of looking? Ari opened her eyes with a gasp. "The Underground!"

"What?" Finn asked.

"The Underground, Finn! We can hide her there."

His eyes widened. "You think it'll be safe there?"

Ari nodded. "Yes. Bishop wouldn't go looking in a place like that."

"His men might," Finn said.

Ari shook her head. "Then we'll just have to take that chance. And be extra careful. I can't think of anywhere else, anyways. Unless you have a better idea?"

Finn sighed. "No, I don't." He nodded. "Let's do it."

Phoebe came back, a backpack slung around one shoulder, a small gun in one hand. Finn raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn't say anything. "So what now?" Phoebe asked.

"We're taking you to the Underground," said Ari.

Phoebe's brow furrowed in confusion. "The Underground? You mean . . . the black market? Why?"

"It's underground. Bishop wouldn't ever think of looking there. It's where you'll be safest." Ari paused. "And we know someone you can stay with."

"We do?" Finn asked.

Ari nodded. "Dagger."

"Dagger?" Phoebe cut in. "That doesn't sound very encouraging."

"Do you trust her?" Finn asked, looking at Ari.

She shrugged. "I don't trust anyone. But she seems like our safest option."

Finn closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. "Okay. Alright. We've figured that part out." He paused for a while, thinking. "But how are we supposed to get to the Underground without being caught? You said it yourself-Bishop is watching us. We'll get caught trying to leave before we can so much as take two steps out of this building."

Phoebe seemed to be thinking. "There are tunnels underneath the building," she said. "It's where Eric and I used to meet. I don't know where they lead, but there's a good chance they connect to the Underground."

Ari's heart leaped with hope. "Perfect. That's exactly the kind of randomly convenient escape plan I was hoping for." She slung her quiver over her shoulder and grabbed her bow. "Let's go. We shouldn't waste any more time. Any last goodbyes you want to say?"

Phoebe looked around her home, swallowing. "I won't be coming back, will I?"

"We don't know that yet," Finn gently replied as he grabbed his knife and slid into his belt.

Phoebe looked around her small apartment one last time. "Okay," she replied, jaw set. "I'm ready."

*

"The entrance is behind the dumpsters," Phoebe said to Ari. They were waiting inside the building while Finn had gone outside to scout, a precautionary measure.

"How'd you find out about them anyway?" Ari asked her, mostly to distract herself from feeling so restless.

Phoebe shrugged. "Hiding places have a way of showing up when you need them most."

"Okay . . . that sounded very philosophical, and didn't answer my question in any way at all."

Phoebe laughed, surprising Ari. "Well, Beck found maps of all these secret tunnels running underneath the city. There are so many-it's mind blowing-I don't know what they could have been used for. But he found out there was tunnel beneath my apartment and he thought it would be a safe place for us to meet in secret."

"Maps, huh? Where did he get them?" Ari asked.

"Um, they belonged to . . . Bishop. But he doesn't know about them," she added quickly, before Ari could reply. "He doesn't. They were hidden away in the attic at his house, untouched."

Ari's eyes were wide. "Phoebe, are you sure? If Bishop knows—"

"He doesn't." Phoebe shook her head. When Ari didn't look convinced, she added, "He can't—Beck wouldn't risk it."

Ari studied her. "Was Beck the one who taught you how to use that gun too?"

Phoebe smiled proudly. "Nope. I taught myself," she said, as the back door of the building opened and Finn stepped in.

"All clear," he said.

"Then let's go," Ari said.

Phoebe wrapped her long coat tighter around herself as she led them out quickly, back behind the dumpsters. She pointed at a sewer grate, which Finn bent down to twist open, teeth gritted. The hole was too dark too see inside, but Ari could just make out the rungs of a ladder leading down into the darkness. Ari remembered what Finn had said about her leaping blindly into a situation, and decided to humour him. She stepped up first, lowering herself into the hole, holding tight to the ladder. With a two finger salute that made Finn roll his eyes, she started climbing down.

Her feet made a noisy slosh when she landed, and she groaned internally, already feeling her socks getting wet through her boots. With a sigh, she looked around. It was quiet, save for the drip, drip of water. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see that the tunnel stretched out endlessly in one direction.

She looked up as light shone into the tunnel, to see that Phoebe had started to climb down slowly, gun in one hand, a flashlight in the other. Ari took her arm once she reached the bottom and helped her off the ladder, noticing that she seemed breathless.

"Are you okay?" Ari asked her.

Phoebe pressed a hand to her stomach, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "I'm fine."

Finn started climbing down before she could argue, closing the grate shut after him. He jumped down from the ladder, landing noisily in the water, and looked around. He looked nervous, his Adam's apple bobbing, hands fidgeting with the hem of his coat.

"What's wrong?" Ari asked, brows furrowed.

He looked at her, startled. "What? Oh-nothing."

Phoebe shone her flashlight down the tunnel. "Come on," she said.

They followed her, footsteps echoing eerily in the tunnel. Now that there was nothing to fuel the adrenaline within her, nothing chasing her, or trying to kill her, Ari felt all the exhaustion catching up, like crashing after a sugar high. Her limbs were sore, her bones ached, and all she wanted to do was sleep. She looked over at Phoebe, walking a few feet ahead, her footsteps slow but sure, and then at Finn, who looked just at tired as Ari, if not more. He still seemed jittery.

She nudged him with her shoulder, making him jump. "What's gotten into you?" she asked.

He rubbed his shoulder, frowning. "Nothing. I told you, I'm fine."

"Doesn't seem like it-" she started, but paused, coming to a sudden stop.

Phoebe turned around. "What's wrong?"

"Did you hear that?" she asked, ears perked.

"Hear what-" Finn started, but Ari held up a hand to silence him. She listened carefully for any signs of the sound she'd heard before, whatever it had been. What seemed like an eternity passed, in which she didn't hear anything, enough time for her to wonder whether she had imagined it, a result of her tiredness. But before she could dismiss it and tell the others it was nothing, she heard it again, and again.

Footsteps.

And from the sounds of it, it was more than one pair of feet.

Ari turned to Finn, heart racing, who gazed back at her with fear in his eyes, which was enough indication that he'd heard it too.

"Should we run?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said, but she turned back to the direction she'd heard the sound from, nocking an arrow onto her bow. "You two go."

"No," Finn started. "Not a good idea, Ari."

"We're supposed to get Phoebe to safety. You take her and go, I'll catch up," she said.

"In case both of you have forgotten, I'm the one with the gun," Phoebe said.

"Doesn't matter," Ari said. "I have my arrows. I'll get rid of whoever it is and catch up with you two."

Finn shook his head, but the footsteps were getting louder and closer, and she could see his resolve breaking. Ari's heart rate quickened, almost in rhythm with the footsteps approaching them. She looked back to see Finn still there with his knife out, Phoebe with her gun.

Ari gritted her teeth. "Finn," she hissed. But whatever she had been going to say died on her tongue as the footsteps got closer, loud and jarring as if they wanted to be heard. Ari could see their long shadows on the walls, and she waited in anticipation for them to round the corner.

If not for the flashlight, they would have been almost invisible, their black suits blending in perfectly with the darkness of the tunnel. The men from the harbor. They stopped in front of her- she counted four of them, a significantly smaller group than the one at the harbor. She was almost insulted.

Finn sidled up beside her. His knuckles were white on his knife.

"Finn," she said again. "Take Phoebe and go."

He shook his head but Ari wasn't up for an argument. "I can handle it, there's barely any of them. You take her and go," she repeated.

"Ari—"

"Go," she said. Finn stared hard at her, and when he could see that she wasn't going to back down, he sighed.

"If you die, I'll kill you," he said.

"Likewise," Ari replied with a smirk. He beckoned to Phoebe, who looked hesitant, but with one last look, began heading away. Once they'd gone, Ari turned back to the men, her smirk widening into a sneer.

She raised her bow. One of the men stepped forward, and Ari aimed the arrow at his chest. But instead of coming at her, he held up a hand.

"Artemis Sullivan," he started. "Surrender willingly, or we will have to use force."

Ari laughed. "You're giving me a choice now?" The grip on her bow tightened.

"Not a choice," the man replied. "An ultimatum."

Ari rolled her eyes. "What do you want from me anyway?"

He remained silent. Ari sighed. "Fine. If that's how you wanna play it." She aimed her bow at the man's chest and let the arrow fly without hesitation. When it did nothing but bounce harmlessly off of him, she stared in shock.

"Shit," she said. It must have been some kind of protective padding beneath their suits.

For a moment, it looked like they would do nothing. Ari took a step back, but before she could go any further, the man lunged. She ducked beneath his outstretched arms without thinking, instincts kicking in, and whirled, hitting the back of his head with her bow, hard. He crumpled onto the ground.

Ari turned to face the others. Another one of them reached for her, a fist brought up to knock her out, but she blocked his punch and kneed him in the chest. The man wheezed in pain, flying backwards with the force of her jab.

There were two more of them—easy to pick off with her arrows had it not been for whatever protective armour they had. She moved backwards as they advanced on her, and discarded her bow. It would be useless in this fight.

It didn't matter. They were bigger and stronger than her, but she was faster. As one of them came at her again, she dodged him quickly, and kicked. He sidestepped her and grabbed her arm instead. She used the momentum to swing her other fist at him, but stopped short as she felt a sharp, sudden jolt up her back.

She fell to her knees, gasping in pain. She felt it again, a painful shock up her side. She doubled over, clutching her body as her vision blackened. She looked up to see that the man who'd grabbed her was holding some kind of a device, with two pointed ends on either side of the front of it, a crackling line of electricity running in between.

Before she could react, he shocked her with it again. She let out a cry, almost blacking out as the pain doubled. She struggled to move, but her arms and legs didn't comply.

She looked up when a shadow loomed over her, to see the man leering down at her, malice in his eyes. The muffled laughter through his mask echoed in the tunnel. "We gave you a choice, didn't we?" he said. "You chose the hard way."

"Just kill me and get it over with, then," she gasped out.

The man laughed again. "We're not going to kill you, stupid girl. Our task is to capture you."

Ari blinked in confusion, but her head was muddled, and she couldn't think clearly. "Who-" she started, but the man raised his arm, ready to shock her again.

"Keep your mouth shut from now on. No questions," he said waggling the device in front of her face. He gestured to the other man. "Tie her up."

Ari struggled to get up, her limbs sore but slowly starting to work. But she couldn't get far before her legs wobbled, and she fell down again. The man was on her before she could do anything else, and he shocked her once again. The pain was more intense this time. She screamed, then fell against the wall of the tunnel, blackness clouding the edges of her vision. She struggled to keep her eyes open.

"I told you to tie her up," the man with the device was saying angrily. "What are you waiting for?"

Ari squinted. Through the pain and her tears, she saw that the other man he was talking to wasn't moving.

"This," he said, and kicked the device out of the first man's hand and pushed him down, taking advantaged of his surprise. The second man grabbed the device and used it to shock the fallen man. When he finally took the device away, he lay still, unconscious.

He turned. Ari struggled to move again, eyeing her bow as he came towards her. He reached for her, and she braced herself, but instead of shocking her he held out a hand to help her up. She stared at it in bewilderment, unsure whether it was a trick.

"Don't worry," he said. He set the device down. "I'm not with them."

"What-" she started. She shook her head. "Who are you?"

The man reached for his mask, and before she could say anything, he removed it. She held back a gasp as she found herself staring into an all too familiar face.

"Castor?" she asked, and he grinned.