With These Hands

-[Liam]-

It was a while before Artemis calmed down properly. Years of pent up emotions bursting out must have been difficult for her, he reasoned. 

There were many reasons why he could choose to be angry with her but there were also reasons why he shouldn't be. 

Despite how they may treat their children, parents are not easy to cut off, not when they've had a large hand in shaping their child. 

While she may have unintentionally revealed that he and Vincent were best friends, it wasn't exactly a secret. Other than that, she didn't give her father any information whatsoever. 

The most important factor of his decision was simple; children may emulate traits of their parents but they are not the same people.

'The sins of the father are not laid upon the son.' He recited a quote, though he couldn't recall where he got it from. It didn't lower its accuracy. Artemis is her own person and should not be judged by her circumstance of family. 

After she calmed down enough, she brought up an important question. "What if they've already gotten to him?"

"While that is a valid concern, I highly doubt that. Unless they send someone formidable or overwhelm him with numbers he'll be fine." He reassured her, pulling out his phone to call Vincent. 

"Though, it wouldn't hurt to find out." He added when the call went straight to voicemail. 

"How are we going to get there in time?" Artemis questioned, some panic in her voice. 

Liam gave a strange smile that had her confused. Before she knew it, her feet were off the ground and she was in his arms in a bridal carry. 

"Brace yourself." He said before dashing out at high speed. 

-[Later]-

It didn't take more than a few minutes to get to the Jones family house. Coming to a stop, he gently set her down, Artemis shaking off her dizzying vision. 

"Okay, quick question. Super strength , super speed, what are you?" She asked with a bewildered expression as she stabilized herself. 

A smug smirk made its way onto his face.  "That is a long story for another time." He said as they quickly made their way to the door. 

Knocking, his hand barely left the wood when the door swung open, a fist flying towards his face. With a tilt, he dodged before grabbing the offending arm in a tight grip. 

"Come on, ease up!" Vincent exclaimed, trying to free his arm. 

"Do you always greet your guests with such hostility?" Liam joked, getting a deadpanned look from Vincent who had gotten his arm released. 

"It's not everyday ninjas break into my house so I'll say no." The boy complained before noticing a silent Artemis beside him. "Who's the hot chick?"

Right she was still in costume. 

"I'd prefer to discuss that when we're not outside." Liam suggested, pulling them in and locking the door behind them. 

As soon as they got in, the first thing he noticed was the unconscious forms of two assassins in the same garb as his earlier assailant on the floor. 

"Wow, you weren't kidding." Artemis muttered, looking between them. 

"As always you solve your problems with such finesse." Liam said, sarcasm dripping from his tone, circling the downed intruders. 

"I'm sorry, maybe I should have offered them something to drink. After that, we could have laid on the grass and watched the stars together." Vincent shot back with equal sarcasm. 

"They're just getting started. They won't stop until they have what they want." Artemis said, cutting into their traded barbs. 

Vincent turned to her with a look of confusion. "Who's they?"

"The league of shadows." She said, in a grave tone as Liam searched the two unconscious men for cyanide pills or any other methods of suicide they might have had on them. 

"Sounds ominous." Vincent snorted. 

"Are your parents home?" Liam asked, getting a nod. He idly wondered why they were always out when he came to visit before now. "What about Valerie?"

Another nod. 

"What are you thinking?" Artemis asked, her attention back on him. 

"I was thinking we might interrogate them but we might wake the others up if we do it here." Liam said, gesturing to the two assassins. 

"We can't leave either because they know where I live and my parents and sister are here." The other boy pointed out. 

"That aside, these guys are loyal to the bone. No amount of interrogation is going to make them talk." Artemis added. 

"I can be persuasive when I need to be." Liam said before turning to Vincent. "I'll take the guest bedroom, you two keep an eye out in case more come."

Pulling the two unconscious men on an arm each, he navigated his way to said room, already familiar with the path. 

"So, what's your name?" He heard Vincent ask Artemis, his voice dipping an octave lower, causing him to roll his eyes as he found the room. 

He quickly found a few bedsheets, using it to wrap them up tight, and just in time too as one of them woke up with a groan. 

He had long since pulled off their masks, revealing their forgettable faces. 

"Hello, I trust you had a wonderful rest." Liam greeted, causing the man's eyes to zero on him, his face going blank from what he could only assume to be practice.

"Don't waste your time. Just tell me what I want to know. Why are you after Vincent?" Liam asked, with the use of compulsion. 

To his surprise, the man froze before his face began visibly struggling. "H-hail the d-demon's head." He ground out. 

The surprise on Liam's face was comical. 'That's a first. Nobody's been able to resist my compulsion before.' He thought, taking a step back to ponder. 

When he thought about it, so far, he hadn't compelled anyone capable of having good levels of mental strength or fortitude. 

'Pain isn't going to work. They're likely trained against forced interrogation and torture.' He thought with a sigh. 

"You're making this harder than it needs to be." He muttered, facing the man once more and making eye contact. 

"Tell me why you are after Vincent." He tried again. 

"All h-hail the demon's head." The man muttered out with more force. 

Gritting his teeth, Liam forcefully grabbed the man by the head, channeling his everything this time. "Tell me what I want to know!" He ordered forcefully, feeling a mental strain for the first time since he discovered his psychic abilities. 

The man in his grasp stared glassy eyes before speaking. "Ra's Al Ghul wants the boy." He finally answered. 

"Why?" Liam asked, shaking off the headache. 

"It is not my place to question what he wants."

The success of managing to compel him felt very bitter knowing that it was for naught. This man didn't know anything, he doubted his partner would know anything either. 

Damn it!