Instinct ch. 1

Title: Instinct

Characters: Richard Grayson/Robin and Artemis Crock

Genre: Angst/Suspense 

Rating: T

Summary: She knew being able to find him when he hadn’t wanted her to wasn’t a good sign. It unnerved her. And the night only got worse from there. Season one.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and am in no way profiting from this story, unless you count reviews/comments as profit. :D

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There hadn’t been a mission assignment in about a week. They had been told that Batman was away taking care of some business and would not be gone much longer, but that meant he was not able to assign them to anything for the time being. There was no suspicious activity that the League needed them to investigate either.

Artemis was not one to complain when there was no mission to be deployed on. Of course she would rather there be one than not, but she could wait. Eventually one would come. And besides, complaining wouldn’t magically make a mission available. It was best to wait it out.

Training with Black Canary had not ceased. The sessions had even been made slightly longer since the team could afford the time. Still, they could only take up so much time.

Though Artemis would not complain, she couldn’t help the bit of restlessness that she felt. She wanted to be out solving something, helping someone. It was a part of her. She almost felt a little useless, though logically aware that was not true, if she wasn’t doing something, even if that something was small.

And that is what found her out patrolling the streets of Gotham. After finishing her homework and studying for the night, Artemis hadn’t been able to get to sleep. She wasn’t tired and knew even if she had continued to lay there, she wouldn’t have fallen asleep anytime soon.

The cool night air was just the thing needed to clear her mind and put her more at ease. As Artemis crossed building tops and wound throughout the streets and allies, sticking to the shadows as much as possible, she felt built up tension leaving her muscles. She had yet to come upon any crime in progress, but that didn’t bother her. That meant that the people in this area were relatively safe.

The young archer had been patrolling for nearly an hour when she caught sight of something in her peripheral vision. Instinctively, she pressed herself into the air conditioning unit of the building she was currently atop, taking advantage of the darkness it offered. She reached back to her quiver and quietly slid out an arrow. She readied it in her bow and prepared to approach the building’s edge. Whatever she had seen had disappeared into the alleyway below.

Artemis threw several cautious glances around her as she headed towards the edge, always wary of her surroundings. The building she was on wasn’t too high, about three stories. She would be able to peer over and see down without having to strain.

As Artemis approached, she crouched down and then turned into a sitting position, placing her back against the wall of the edge. She glanced around herself a few more times and then pushed the back of her head against the edge as well. For a moment, Artemis listened. Listened for any movement, breath, or sound that would indicate someone below. Upon hearing nothing, she deemed it safe to look. She turned over to rest her weight on her knees, still not exposing herself over the edge. Her bow and arrow were at the ready, should she need them. Carefully, she raised the top of her head up and leaned over the edge until she was satisfied with the view she had.

At first, Artemis saw nothing but the shadows below. She scanned the area and still saw no movement. Artemis was beginning to wonder whether or not her peripheral vision was playing tricks on her earlier. Her eyes scanned the area one last time, yet again finding nothing out of place. The blond decided this place had taken up enough of her time and turned to leave.

A noise reached her ears.

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