××
The rest of the team finally reached the medbay, the strides relaxed and slow. They didn't have any excitement or pleasure at the the thought of seeing the gang leader again.
The first thing they noticed was blood, the smell was overbearing and it's crimson color was everywhere.
Immediately weapons were drawn, Kaldur being the first to take a step into the room, his eyes falling on the frames of Batman and Lilian, then on Robin and the blood covered Shadow.
Everyone is unconscious. He concluded at a glance and his stance relaxed.
"Get Canary." The atlantean turned around, his body blocking the view of everyone else as he gave the order to Superboy.
Watching the kryptonian nod and walked away, Artemis raised a brow at their leader. "What's going on?"
Kaldur only stepped aside to show her the carnage behind him.
'The hell?' She stammered as she rushed towards Batman. 'Hey!'
'Get. . . Robin.' The man groaned, his voice strained as he pushed her away, trying to get up. 'I'm fine.'
'You don't look fine!' She didn't move, grabbing his arm to help him stand.
'Artemis,' he gritted his teeth, staggering as his feet hit the floor. 'That was an order, help Robin.'
'At least tell me what happened.' She said after a while, walking to the unconscious bird. 'I though Shadow would never hurt her dear. . .'
'Don't touch him!' Kaldur shouted suddenly, tackling Artemis just as her fingers grazed the boy's arm, the room exploding with blue light as electricity crackled all around them. The atlantean's waterbearers stayed above them, redirecting the flow of the lighting as it surrounded Robin and Shadow protectively.
'Nice save, Kal.' A mocking voice echoed from within the crackling barrier and then the lightning vanished.
'Shadow.' Bruce growled, walking to the girl that stood in front of Robin, her eyes gleaming with sharpness as he grabbed her by the collar. 'What do you think you're doing?'
Her gaze fell to the floor then she met his eyes. 'You need help.'
'Answer the question.' He let go of her and fell to one knee, staring at his son. 'What did you do?'
'He overreacted. . .' Shadow bit her lip, her eyes meeting Artemis' as she turned away. 'He'll be fine.'
'Shadow!' a new voice entered the mix and everyone looked towards the door to see Conner and Black Canary. 'You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.'
The assassin laughed coldly. "Sure mom."
××
'You know, you have some nerve make me co-leader of the Nightshade.' Dinah started, her gaze narrowed at the humming assassin.
'I made Robin leader too, so it's okay.' Shadow grinned widely, her fingers tapping on the familiar table of the interrogation room she had come to miss.
'Shadow, are you okay?' The heroine asked cautiously.
'Yeah. . .' The thirteen year old answered slowly. 'I'm fine, why?'
'You're smiling.'
'Oh,' Shadow paused, her fingers reaching up to her lip as her eyes lit up with what Dinah thought was joy.
'I didn't notice.' She laughed stiffly.
Canary's mind drew a blank, Shadow was completely different from the suicidal girl she met minutes ago. 'Is something wrong?'
'I'm so happy.' Shadow answered dully.
'What?'
Shadow giggled, sounding completely out-of-character. 'He said he loved me!'
And Canary almost passed out from shock right then but she forced her complaints down her throat. 'That's great. . .'
Shadow didn't reply immediately, her solemn gaze fixed in the table. 'I'm sorry for hurting you.'
'It's alright, Shadow.' Dinah rested a hand on the girl's shoulder, wincing as the assassin flinched and moved away.
Things have gotten worse, she couldn't help but think as she moved her hand away. 'It would help if you told me what you're going through.'
"It won't," Shadow clenched her fist and the older woman sighed.
"Would you prefer talking to Batman?"
"I want to see Robin and Lilian. . ." Shadow mumbled loudly, looking into Canary's eyes.
'Then you better start talking.' The female hero pulled out the chair opposite the teenage girl and took a seat.
Shadow pressed the tips of her fingers on the table and shrugged slightly. 'What do you want to know?'
'What happened at LexCorp?'
Shadow clenched her jaw and looked away, her hand pressed against her chest. 'Robin was in trouble so I saved him.'
'And after that? Why didn't you escape?'
'There wasn't enough time for Vanessa to get to his airship and protect it from incoming attack so I stayed behind to stall for time and leave a message that Robin got poisoned so that they could provide the antidote.' As Shadow spoke, her tone grew colder and Dinah felt bad about having to remind her of such painful memories.
'Then the Foundation took you?'
'No,' Shadow started softly. 'I followed Jade to the league of assassins where Ra's punished me.'
'And what was this punishment?'
'The punishment of ten thousand cuts.' Shadow shrugged as though such a brutal thing was normal. 'Then I was whipped, maybe branded. . . It was just three days of unbearable pain. I don't remember much about it.'
'What happened next?'
'I was given to The Foundation half dead. . . The Light didn't see any use for me anymore.' Shadow cleared her throat, her gaze falling to the floor as she smiled again. 'I was lost in memories after that, both fake and real. The pain made me wish to die.'
'Is that why you started cutting?' Dinah tried to make her voice softer but Shadow still winced.
The girl drummed her fingers along the table for a full minute before settling on an answer. 'I belong to him.'
'Who?' Canary frowned.
'The director of The Foundation.'
'And what did he do to you?'
Shadow's smile fell. 'He liked my body and loved to drink my blood. He liked to hurt me—. . . Everyday he shattered my will, broke my mind. . . Although all the cuts he gave me were healed, cutting became a habit. The pain. . . I just wanted to hurt myself sometimes. . . I wished I could kill myself but he wouldn't let me.'
'Is that all he did?' Dinah's tone had a distinct graveness to it.
'Except for that, he made me kill.' Shadow laughed bitterly. 'Don't worry, he didn't rape me or anything. . . That would have gotten him killed.'
'By who?' Canary asked, almost sighing in relief.
Shadow shrugged and her fingers halted. 'The planning of my death has no room for a chance to give me pleasure or hope. . . It's all about showing how I can break, succumb and beg.'
'They must really hate you.'
'Well, Shadow paused, filling the silence with another shallow smile. 'I am a horrible person.'
'Vanessa said that Leader wants you dead too. . .Who is he?' Canary sighed.
'He is someone I used to care about,' Shadow rushed. 'Can I see Robin now?'
'Missing me already?' A voice chuckled and she unconsciously scowled.
'Who's missing you?'
'Wow, brutal.' Robin laughed, walking into the room with Lilian in his arms and Batman behind him. 'I'm here to make sure you tell the truth and nothing but the truth. . . Apparently.'
'Do I lie?' The assassin hissed.
'Yes,' Robin stopped by the table and put Lilian on it. 'You do.'
Shadow bit her lower lip and looked away. 'Are you okay now?'
'Is that concern I'm hearing?' He smirked, about to say something more when Batman cleared his throat.
'I want to know why you killed all those people.' The Dark Knight started. 'Why didn't you escape from the Foundation?'
'I was asked to do two things in regards to my mission,' Shadow let out a sigh. 'Kill a list of people and steal some important chemicals.'
'No chemicals have gone missing.' Lilian piped up after a while. 'So you chose to kill people first, right?'
'Did you feel that it was easier to take a life than to steal chemicals?' Canary asked.
'It is easier.' Shadow snapped, her clasped hands trembling with every word she spoke. 'I'm a killer, remember?'
"Hey," Robin placed a hand on her shoulder. "Cooperate, okay?"
Shadow rolled her eyes and relaxed in the chair, her arms crossed. 'I used them to buy time. . . I could steal all the chemicals in a week but I could spend more time planning how to kill who.'
She continued. 'I didn't escape because Gabriel was always in my head. He would know what I was thinking and he would. . .'
'He would do what?'
The girl looked away. 'It's nothing.'
'Shadow,' Batman glared at her and she pressed her lips into a thin line.
Black Canary stood up. 'Okay, I think it's time to take a break.'
'Robin, get Shadow into new clothes.' She continued and the bird sent a salute the heroine's way, pulling Shadow and Lilian out of the room.
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