~Astra~

It took almost a week for Mr. Longbottom to become convinced that Artemis's newfound fury towards Stillens and everything he stood for was genuine, but after that point, he relaxed a lot of the rules he'd had around her. For example, he decided it was finally okay for people to know she existed (and I had to pretend I hadn't told Faith and Marcus a long time ago). More importantly, he decided it was all right for her to go on "supervised walks" with me. It wasn't like I had ridiculous amounts of clearance, after all, so we wouldn't be stumbling into any place that she didn't need to be.

I'd been to see her every day since her memories had been restored. I felt a little responsible for the fact that she was such a wreck, for one thing, but I also really did want to help her get better. Now that she'd stopped being completely hostile and refusing to talk to anyone, I was discovering that she was actually pretty kind. Sure, she'd been going back and forth between fuming about Stillens and crying about her parents for most of the time I'd spent with her, but in between that she'd been trying to get to know me, too, which I hadn't expected. Normally, it might have felt like an overwhelming responsibility to be designated as the one person who could take this poor girl outside (other than Mr. Longbottom and Mrs. Potter, though Merlin knows they didn't have the time for it), but I found myself a little excited about the excuse to spend more time with her.

The morning that Mr. Longbottom informed me of this decision, I didn't have any broadcasts scheduled until late in the afternoon. Technically, I'd told Charlotte I'd stop by the infirmary and see if she needed anything, but I decided she'd probably be understanding about losing her volunteer for the morning. Instead, I dashed straight to the building that I was starting to suspect was simply a catch-all for any truly secret activity or thing, including our one and only prisoner.

When I walked into Artemis's room, she was once again poring over the paper copy of her file that Mr. Longbottom had provided. She barely glanced up at me as I closed the door and crossed over to sit at the foot of her bed. I ran my hand along the pattern of the bedspread, not wanting to interrupt her thoughts.

After a few minutes, Artemis set the file down, shaking her head slowly like she was coming out of a daze. "There's so many horrible things in here, Astra," she said quietly. "It's cross-referencing other kids who were kidnapped around the same time I was. I know some of them. We were in school together. And none of them know..."

I managed not to wince, instead trying to look sympathetic. "That's a lot to take in."

She just nodded, seeming forlorn. If only there was a way I could make any of this better. I'd had to be satisfied with simply being here for her, because there wasn't anything I could do or say to make this less horrific. At least Artemis didn't seem to be expecting more from me. Today, at least, maybe I could actually do something to cheer her up.

"Mr. Longbottom and I had a chat this morning," I started. Artemis nodded, but it seemed more like she was being polite than actually interested. I pressed on. "He thinks that, provided you weren't wandering around alone, it would be a good idea for you to get outside some."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"I mean... I know it won't really change anything, but maybe all of this will be just a little more manageable if you're not stuck in this room all the time?"

Artemis nodded quickly. "No, I agree. That sounds amazing." She smiled. "Thank you."

I grinned back. "Fantastic! There are a few ground rules, if you're okay with that?"

"Of course."

"Great. First, there are plenty of places around here that I'm not allowed to go, but I'm under the impression that you can come with me anywhere I'm allowed. Which is great, because that means I can introduce you to some of my friends, and maybe you won't feel as isolated. I feel like that's really not a very restrictive rule, honestly..." I shook my head. "The second one is that you're allowed to tell people who you are, if you want to, and what's happened to you, but for all intents and purposes Wren and Nico were never here. They have nothing to with the DA and haven't ever set foot in this safehouse."

Artemis had been nodding along with the first rule, but at this one she frowned. "So... what am I allowed to say?"

"One of our agents is an obliviation expert, but you're not at liberty to say who that is." I shrugged. "I mean, it doesn't have to be that formal, but something along those lines."

She was still frowning. I wasn't sure what the confusion was over, so I just gave her a second to collect her thoughts. After a moment, she tilted her head and regarded me quizzically. "Nico's undercover with Stillens? Is that what it is? He's some sort of double agent?"

I managed to keep my face neutral instead of rolling my eyes. That almost made him sound cool, which couldn't be further from the truth. Murderous snake-wielding scumbags were the opposite of cool. But now wasn't the time for that conversation. "Yeah. Something like that. I don't really know that much, other than from working with him to restore people's memories."

Artemis sat up straighter. "You've restored other people's memories?"

"Well, just one. A little girl named Cassie Williams, though I don't suppose you know who that is."

She stared at me for a moment, then shook her head slightly. "Katreena Predatel told me that was her niece. How on earth did you even get to her to restore her memories?"

"She's not her niece." I narrowed my eyes at the thought of that woman. "Katreena's a liar, and Cassie's just as much a victim as all the other children at the manor."

"There's more?"

I winced. "Unfortunately. I think around 30 or 40, unless they've been kidnapping more lately..."

"Why was Cassie so special, then? She was being treated like family. Better than Wren, I'd say."

"Well... I think she's a natural occlumens, if that's a thing. So that caught Stillens' eye, I'm sure. But... okay, I know this is going to sound completely mad, but... she's a seer? But I don't think Stillens knew that. What he did know was that she could talk to people in her head, and I think they could never quite figure out if that was a real thing or not?"

Artemis was staring at me with total confusion on her face. "How on earth do you know that?"

"I'm a seer, too." I huffed. "Don't really want to be, but I guess I don't have a choice. The talking-to-people-in-your-head thing is something particularly powerful seers can do, apparently. She was only ever talking to me."

"No offense, but that sounds absolutely crazy." Artemis was nodding, though, in spite of that. "I suppose I've heard weirder things, though."

I chuckled. "Long story short, I guess, when James and Wren escaped, they took Cassie with them. She's actually been staying with my cousins in hiding somewhere else, except for once, about a month ago, when Teddy brought her here so Nico could restore her memories. I guess he befriended her at the manor or something ridiculous like that? Anyway, when it worked on her we decided we'd start trying with you, too."

"I guess that makes sense..." she said, in a tone that told me it didn't make much sense at all, but further explanation would probably just confuse matters more. After a moment, she shook her head, like she was clearing her thoughts. "What about Wren, though? Why can't I talk about her?"

"That's a longer story." I smiled apologetically. "How much do you know about James Potter?"

"I know he was probably the boy who was with you when he was supposed to in France. But he was there, too. I started tracking both of you when I realized you weren't alone."

My eyes widened. "Bloody hell, are you serious? You were in France?" She nodded like it was obvious, and I shook my head slowly. "We knew you were following me, but we had no idea James was being followed there, too..."

"Oh, I know." She smiled, seeming almost proud. "I'm good at what I do. Even after he'd seen me in Wales, he didn't notice I was in all the same clubs he was in. I think he tried to buy me a drink once, but I didn't stay close enough for him to actually follow through." She shook her head. "He was drunk, so I'm sure that's part of it."

I suppressed my laughter; now that was hilarious to hear, though I knew it would have horrified both James and me six months ago. "The getting drunk thing was part of his cover."

"So it really was a cover? I suspected that, but I didn't have enough evidence to say for sure to Stillens. I saw him really clearly once, but other than that it was just some footage from a camera I'd set up at Semias Hart's home, after I'd realized that's what you'd done at Purdue's. Wren and Nico both claimed they couldn't identify him, though now I guess they were both lying."

My mouth dropped open. "You had a camera there? We didn't even think to look for that."

"It was inside on a windowsill. That's how I knew where your camera was, though. If you saw that."

"Oh, we did. You scared James out of his mind. Me too, honestly."

She smiled a bit, then looked down. "I'm sorry. It didn't seem like a bad thing to do at the time, but now, looking back—"

"You didn't know, so there's nothing to be sorry for." I smiled encouragingly. "You were a victim, just like we were. That's not your fault."

An unconvinced nod, then Artemis took a deep breath. "Right. Anyway... the only other things I really know about James Potter are public information, and that he got caught trying to break into the manor the day you all escaped. I guess that was the plan?"

I rolled my eyes. "I had no idea he was planning on getting caught. Wouldn't have let him do it, if I'd known."

"Ah. Well, it was the plan by the time it happened. I heard him getting tortured, and then it stopped... and I think Wren must have given in and told Stillens something, because he came out a few minutes later and told me where you were heading. After that, they escaped, though I'm not sure how." She shrugged. "So that's really not that much."

"It's a good start." I hesitated for a moment, trying to wrap my head around one of those things. Wren had given in? She couldn't have. She'd been through so much and stayed strong... I supposed that maybe if it was James being hurt, that would change things. But... Stillens wouldn't have accepted anything less than her letting all of the occlumency drop, and if she'd done that, Haverna would have been arrested, and every person we saw at the manor would have been identified and arrested as well, and James's plan would have been ruined. Nico would have been caught. They would have doubled down on security with Cassie when they found out she was a seer, especially one who could talk to me. Hell, they would have found out I was a seer. But none of those things had happened, so she couldn't have possibly given in. But... Artemis had a point. How would they have known where Ciara and I were going, or that we'd been there at all, unless someone had told them? "Hold on, I'm sorry, what do you mean Wren gave in?"

Artemis shrugged, seeming confused. "I mean, I assume that's what happened? I know she can do occlumency, but she must have stopped. Stillens knew where you were going, and he had to have figured it out from her. James seemed like he was barely conscious..."

My eyes narrowed just a bit. The only things that could withstand legilimency, as far as I knew, were occlumency, fidelius charms, and obliviation. Clearly, there weren't fidelius charms over everything Wren could possibly know, and if she'd given in she would have had to drop the occlumency completely. Which meant the only other option was obliviation. Which probably meant Nico.

I took a deep breath, trying to dispel the (righteous?) anger I was feeling all of a sudden. I shook my head. Now wasn't the time for that. "Right. Okay. Cool. I guess it all turned out fine in the end. Doesn't matter." I opened my eyes and forced a smile. "We were talking about Wren and James."

"Are they undercover or something?"

"They're not with the DA at all, actually." Artemis started, seeming confused, and I quickly added, "Not because they don't believe in it! That was part of James's cover. But his goal was to get a job at the Ministry and work against Stillens from that angle, and he could only do that if he'd really cut off all ties with the DA. Wren wanted to support him, so after she got rescued, they decided to do it together. She's back at school, and James is essentially running Russey's government propaganda department. I think their goal was to muster some resistance to Stillens from inside the Ministry among people that might be a little wary of the DA, but I don't really know how they're doing."

"That's... oh, wow. Okay." She shook her head, clearly processing all of that. "He was lying about giving up on the DA, then? That was a very public persona..."

"It's still very public." My eyes widened, and I reached over to grab her hand. "Listen, the only other person here who knows about this is Mrs. Potter. Anyone else thinks Wren and James really did give up on the DA. That's including Mr. Longbottom. Okay? You can't tell anyone this."

Artemis nodded, then tilted her head. "Wait, then why did they bring Wren in?"

"That was three weeks solid of me and Nico begging. Nico was convinced that you would only give in with her, and it was hopeless without Wren." I chuckled; that was most we'd ever been on the same page, and I didn't think it would happen again. "I mean, we were right. Mr. Longbottom thinks Wren was going behind James's back to do this. Reluctantly."

"And she's not?"

"Oh, I'm sure she's told him everything by now, if they've seen each other." I winced. "I'm sure they won't mind that I told you..."

Her face fell. "I'm sorry. I hope that doesn't cause any trouble."

"It won't," I said, with more confidence than I really felt. I was sure Wren wouldn't mind, but James might be another story. At least I probably wouldn't be the one to tell him...

Artemis glanced at the door, then back at me. "Are there any more rules?"

"No. I mean, just that you need to stay with me, so no sneaking off, but I think that was implied." She nodded, so I grinned and hopped up. "Perfect! Ready to go, then?"

As we walked through the building to the exit, I pretended not to notice the way Artemis seemed to drink everything in. Honestly, I couldn't imagine being locked in the same room for three full months, with the only interesting things being annoying visits from people I didn't trust. I had no idea what she was thinking as we passed empty rooms and piles of boxes, but it wasn't worth ruining this moment for her to ask.

Artemis drew in a sharp breath as we stepped outside. For several long moments, she just stood in the doorway, looking around at everything, from the buildings to the dead grass to the sky. I watched her as a gentle breeze blew past and she shivered. There was a faint smile on her face as she took another deep breath. She shook her head slightly and whispered, "It's beautiful."

I raised an eyebrow, quickly scanning the very gray scene before us. "If you say so."

"Just... fresh air. The sky. The sounds. It's amazing."

I had no idea what she was talking about, so I just nodded. "Well... where do you want to go first?"

"I have no idea what's here," she pointed out.

"Right. Well... I guess I'll just give you the tour, then."

We stopped by my room first, to grab a jacket for Artemis. She claimed it was rarely this cold in Georgia, which I found absolutely wild; Wren had always seemed at home in the climate here. I guess Maine and Georgia weren't in the same part of America?

After we'd gotten a jacket, I dragged her around the entire compound. I pointed out the buildings I wasn't allowed in, as well as the infirmary, the cafeteria, the recording studio, and the school building. The children were all out on the playground, running around, and we stood at the side watching them for a long time. Artemis had such a variety of emotions on her face at the sight of them that I didn't even attempt to talk to her except to answer her few questions about names, ages, and confirmation that most of them really had been kidnapped. She asked if any of their memories had been restored yet, and if that would happened soon, but I honestly didn't know. I was pretty sure we were still watching to see how Cassie reacted long term, but I wasn't entirely sure what the plan was anyway.

Finally, I dragged her over to the house. We waved at Mr. Longbottom as we passed him in the hall, but I was determined to get us to the Quibbler newsroom so I could introduce her to Marcus and Faith.

When we walked into the room, Xenophilius Lovegood was feverishly writing something down and whispering to himself, which wasn't an abnormal sight but seemed to freak Artemis out a little. I took her elbow and pulled her towards the door to the backroom, where I could already hear the printing press whirring.

"This is where they print the Quibbler," I explained as we walked through the door. "You do know what that is, right?"

"The propaganda paper that I assume isn't propaganda at all?"

"That's the one!" Faith had hopped up from her seat at the desk and started over to us with a grin. "You must be Artemis. We've heard a lot about you here."

Artemis glanced at me with a frown. "Um... really?"

"Just recently," I assured her quickly. "You were a bit of a secret until your memory got restored. Mr. Longbottom didn't want word getting out that we'd caught you, or were holding any prisoners at all."

"Oh. Okay." She glanced around at the small group that had gathered while we'd been talking (and by small group I mean adding Marcus and Mrs. Potter). At the sight of Mrs. Potter, she lost a bit of the tension in her posture, but she still seemed a little overwhelmed. I swore in my head; why I hadn't I eased her into this? She'd hardly seen anyone for months, and now I was springing the entire compound and several new people on her all at the same time. What was wrong with me?

Mrs. Potter stepped in before I could think of a way to salvage the situation. She put her hand on Artemis's shoulder and smiled warmly at her. "It's lovely to see you, dear. How has your day been so far?"

"A lot," she said, relaxing a little more. "But very good, of course. I'm grateful to be able to go outside."

"I'm glad to hear it." Her arm slid around Artemis's shoulders as she turned to motion to Marcus and Faith. "This is our staff for the Quibbler. Faith, our head journalist—"

"—And only journalist," she pointed out, chuckling.

"You're still the head journalist," Mrs. Potter said, shaking her head with a smile. "It's going to look better on your resume to say that, you know." She motioned to Marcus. "And this is Marcus, our typesetter and general odd-jobs-man."

"A pleasure to meet you," Marcus said politely, holding his hand out for her to shake.

That normal social convention seemed to put Artemis a little more at ease, and she managed a smile as she shook his hand. "Thank you. You, too."

Of course, Faith spent the next twenty minutes telling and showing Artemis all that she could possibly ever want to know about the Quibbler, from where their information came from to how production and distribution happened. Artemis did seem interested, but I have no idea if she really was or if she was simply being polite.

While Faith was explaining her very methodical pre-writing routine, Marcus stepped a little closer to me. "Didn't you say she's connected to the Daily Prophet somehow? I've never seen her before."

"She's not. Well, only a little bit." I glanced over at her unsurely. It wasn't my place to share about her personal life, after all. She got to choose who she talked to about that. But I had to tell him something. "She has a brother, possibly kidnapped as well," I explained. "He works at the Prophet."

Marcus frowned. He was moving his hands as if he was running through some sort of list in his mind. After a moment, he glanced over at me. "Wu, right? It must be Daniel Wu."

I tried to keep a neutral expression, but had to end up sighing and nodding. "He was an intern with Faith, right?"

"That's the one." His eyes narrowed. "Never liked him, honestly. But it was for really petty reasons. Thought my dad was more proud of him than me, things like that." He grew quiet, wincing as if he hadn't meant to say all of that. A shake of his head seemed to clear that away. "I suppose if he's really one of those kidnapped children, though, it's not very fair to hate him, is it?"

I shrugged. "We don't know for sure. I know Mr. Longbottom has a source looking into it—" I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes at the thought of him "—but I don't think they've found anything yet."

"Ah. That's unfortunate." Marcus glanced over at where Artemis and Faith were sitting. "Well, she'll have heard my name by now, I'm sure. Faith only ever calls me 'Dillam' in the most scornful tone she can muster."

"Oh," I said, frowning. "I can I ask her to stop, if you want."

"No, it's okay." He shrugged. "I think the fact that I answer to that is making her warm up to me a bit, to be honest. Besides, she has plenty of personal reasons to be angry with my family."

I'd been keeping one eye on Artemis the whole time, and now I finally saw her glance over at me briefly and raise an eyebrow. "That's my cue," I whispered, before walking over to them and throwing my arms around Faith from behind. "This has been wonderful, super fun, we've all learned a lot, but I think it's time Artemis and I go now?"

I pulled myself off her so she could swivel in her chair. Her narrowed eyes were met with my brightest smile, and after a moment, she glanced over at Artemis. "Sorry. I've been told I tend to talk to much."

"No, it's totally fine." She smiled politely enough that I was pretty sure she had to be faking it. Or maybe that was a sign that she wasn't? "It was all very interesting. Thank you."

Faith grinned. "Next time we can get to know each other a little better instead of the Quibbler, if you want."

"That sounds really cool." Was her smile actually more genuine, or had she just added some warmth to a smile that already been genuine? I found myself wondering how Wren saw through people so easily.

Artemis was staring at me, a slightly concerned frown on her face. I realized I'd zoned out. "Merlin, sorry. Got lost in my thoughts for a second. Are you ready to go?"

She nodded, but she was walking over to Marcus instead of the door. I followed quickly, sure I would be blamed if they got into a fight. Sure, Artemis didn't really strike me as the type to lash out like that, but she'd gotten pretty aggressive while Nico and I were failing at restoring her memories.

Marcus was giving her that already-apologetic-and-uncomfortable smile that he'd gotten so good at lately, but Artemis was just studying him closely. After a moment, she tilted her head just a bit, a very intense look on her face. "Can we talk?"

"Uh... of course." Marcus glanced at me. "Um..."

"Maybe you could walk with us for a while," I suggested.

Artemis nodded in agreement, then glanced back at him for a response. After he'd glanced past me at where Mrs. Potter was sitting, probably to get approval, he gave her a painfully polite nod. "That's a great idea."

I led the way back outside, then towards our recording studio on the far side of the property where no one would overhear us at all since Mr. Jordan was meeting up with some of his radio planters. When we'd gotten sufficiently far enough away, I turned back to them. "So... do you want me to leave?"

"Please don't," Marcus said at the same time as Artemis said, "No, it's fine." Artemis shot him a confused glance. "What do you think is going on here?"

"Well... I mean, I know you're some kind of assassin—"

"Do you think I'm going to kill you?" she asked, seeming more horrified at the thought than offended, to my relief. "I'm not an assassin. I've never killed anyone."

Marcus's eyes widened. "Oh Merlin, no, that's not what I meant! It was more like... I don't know, I thought you might beat me up?"

Artemis shook her head slowly in disbelief. "You were just going to let me beat you up?"

"I mean... maybe? I'm pretty good at that."

"How can you possibly be good at getting beaten up?"

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, because I didn't think either of them thought this was funny. But Marcus nearly cowering at a girl who was a full six inches shorter than him was quite a sight, even if I knew that there was a zero percent chance that he'd even be able to land a spell if it came to any sort of fight.

After some hesitation, Marcus winced and shook his head. "Never mind. What did you want to talk about?"

Artemis gave him that very intense look again until he seemed fully uncomfortable. After that, she tilted her head. "Who are you?"

Marcus let out a deep sigh as if he'd been expecting that. "Marcus Dillam. I'm sure you've already figured that out."

"I have." She raised her eyebrow slightly. "Kyler Dillam is your...?"

"He's my father."

"So you grew up idolizing Stillens?"

"Merlin, no." Marcus chuckled uncomfortably. "My mum and I didn't know about any of that until two years ago, when it was all getting published in the Quibbler." There was a moment of hesitation, but Artemis was still staring at him as if she wasn't satisfied. He winced and kept going. "I mean, I know that the Ministry and Prophet both cleared him, but they're so corrupt. Things started adding up, making sense, and Mum decided she couldn't take it anymore, so we left. She made up some rumor about Dad having an affair with an intern to save face, but I think everyone knew that was ridiculous."

Though Marcus paused again, Artemis's expression didn't change. He shot me an uncertain glance, but all I could do was shrug. I had no idea what she was looking for. At that, Marcus turned back to her, drawing in a deep breath. The nerves seemed to slip away as he looked down at the ground. "I never once thought of joining him, I swear. I was horrified. I wanted nothing to do with him. But honestly, it was completely devastating. It hurt so much to know he'd chosen Stillens over his own family, you know?" He looked back up at her face, brows knitted together. "I mean, of course this isn't anything like what you've gone through. Not that I really know about anything you've gone through. But I know this is nowhere near as bad."

Artemis considered that for a moment, then nodded once before asking a new question. "How long has your dad worked for Stillens?"

"I have no idea," he admitted. "It could be just a few years, could be a decade or more."

Another nod. "And how long have you been with the DA?"

"Three months or so."

"Why did it take so long to join them?"

He sighed. "Listen, it's not that I didn't want to fight Stillens, okay? But there are plenty of regular people who are wary of the DA for perfectly logical reasons. They are a really secretive organization, and they do all of their work outside the authority of the government. I know now that Professor Longbottom would never abuse that power, but other people don't know that. There are valid arguments for why people might hold back."

"What was yours?"

"Well... it was partly that I didn't have any DA connections, really, so I knew almost nothing about it. But I realized a lot of it was simply prejudice that my father had fostered in me. So... I joined up."

Artemis frowned at him for a long moment before stepping back a bit, finally seeming satisfied. Marcus blinked at her for a few seconds. "What was that, exactly?"

"Getting people to open up is something I'm very good at," Artemis said lightly.

"That really makes me want a list," I said, raising an eyebrow.

She just shook her head, smiling a bit. "It would be a very long list." Just like that, her smiled faded and she glanced back at Marcus. The intense look was gone, replaced by something much more hesitant. Almost vulnerable. "I... I don't suppose you'd know anything about my brother, would you? He works at the Prophet."

Marcus played dumb remarkably well. "What's his name?"

"Daniel Wu."

He seemed to think about that for a moment, then winced. "Oh, him. He's my father's favorite mentoring project."

Artemis sighed, but it looked like she'd been expecting that. "I suppose all of the people who were kidnapped in America are in this pretty deep by now."

"Probably," I said softly. I didn't know how she'd respond to me putting my hand on her shoulder, so I settled for hovering at her side.

After a moment, Marcus shifted a little so he was standing closer to her. "Hey, um... I know this won't make anything better, but I'm really sorry you've gone through all this. It all sucks."

She glanced up at him, seeming surprised. I guess it was a good sign that she was showing that at all. "Thanks. It... I mean, yeah, it does suck."

One corner of his mouth perked up in a smile, and he nodded a bit. "I know there probably isn't much I could do, but if there's anything I can do to make some of this better, I'd love to. Even if you just need another friend here."

Artemis studied him for a moment, who knew what kind of thoughts running through her mind. Finally she nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

That made Marcus's smile turn into a grin. "Listen, I probably need to get back to work, but it was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for not beating me up."

"I wasn't ever planning on beating you up."

"Still, I appreciate it all the same." He waved at me. "See you later, Astra!"

He was already turning to go as I waved. Artemis watched him go with a puzzled expression, only looking away when I stepped in front of her, eyebrow raised. "What do you think?"

She shook her head slightly. "Is he always like that? Thinking people want to beat him up?"

"I think it's just that your reputation precedes you. He's generally pretty okay, I promise."

"Faith doesn't like him, and I assume that's because of his Prophet connections. How do you know him?"

I pursed my lips. Yet another person to think I was mad for moving on with my life. "I mean, we were at school together. He was one of James's roommates. And... well, he's my ex-boyfriend."

She blinked at me, clearly confused. "So... you broke up with him when you realized his dad worked for Stillens?"

With a wince, I shook my head. "No, we'd already broken up by then. I... well, I actually caught him cheating on me."

Now Artemis was regarding me suspiciously. I got a nasty feeling that she was reevaluating whether or not I was truly mentally sound. "He cheated on you? But now you're friends?"

I shrugged a bit, trying to play it off like it was no big deal but I don't think I did that well. "I don't know that we're quite friends. But it was a long time ago. He's changed a lot. He apologized for it all about a year ago, and seemed really genuine about it, so I forgave him. Pretty simple."

Artemis stared at me with that very intense look she was so good at, and I tried not to squirm. I stood by my decision to forgive him, after all, and as long as he seemed committed to being a better person and a decent friend, there wasn't any reason to hold that against him. That never seemed to make sense coming out of my mouth, though, so I was getting prepared to just sigh and say not to worry about it when she finally said, "You keep surprising me, Astra. Every time I think I know what to expect, you do something completely unpredictable."

I couldn't tell if that was meant to be a compliment, so I laughed a little awkwardly as we started walking back to the main road. "I mean, I'm not trying to throw you off or anything."

She shook her head. "No, it's not a bad thing. I'm just used to being able to figure people out quickly, but I still haven't with you."

Well, that still didn't tell me much. Surely I couldn't be the first person she hadn't been able to figure out. She'd met Nico and Wren, after all. "Hasn't that ever happened before with anyone?"

"No."

"That's not possible. It can't be. What about Wren?"

Artemis smiled and shook her head. "Almost immediately. One of the first things she said to me was that I'd been kidnapped and brainwashed. Stillens brushed it off, told me she was a pathological liar, but she was so sincere. I knew she had to actually believe it. And even though she was going through something horrible, she still managed to be kind to me when I was trying to be friendly. I knew she loyal to the people she cared about, and dedicated to what she thought was right, and a very kind person even when her circumstances were completely hellish. And she was so scared, Astra. I couldn't understand what she was scared of, but I knew she was terrified. Am I wrong?"

I blinked in surprise. "I... um, no, you're not. Not at all, actually. How'd you do that?"

"It's another one of the things I'm very good at."

As impressive as that was, I shook my head. "Nico, though. You met him before, didn't you? You couldn't have completely figured him out then."

"I didn't know he was a spy for the DA," she admitted, "but I knew something was off with him. Even though he seemed completely onboard with Stillens, I could tell he cared a lot about Wren. They were too close, considering she was a traitor and he seemed to fundamentally disagree with everything she stood for. He wouldn't identify James in the video I had, even though I was sure he should have been able to. I knew that his stand-offish-ness had to be hiding something else. I wasn't sure exactly what, but it was enough for me to know he was someone who needed an eye kept on him. Things weren't adding up."

I wasn't sure if that was completely accurate or not, simply because I knew I was a biased judge when it came to him. It sounded pretty close to what the truth must have been, though. I shook my head in amazement. "You might be the only person who's ever seen through them, you know."

Artemis blushed a little. "I'm not sure how I would have stood if Wren had been trying to deceive me. I've heard she's a good actor. She's disarming enough that I probably would have been fooled."

"Still. That's incredible." I shook my head, wondering why on earth she couldn't figure me out if she'd managed to get Wren so well. I mean, sure, I was reckless, but I'd never thought of that as being completely unpredictable before. I was pretty predictable in my recklessness, wasn't I?

To be fair, it's not like I always had myself figured out. I'd been just as surprised as anyone else when I'd forgiven Marcus Dillam, after all. Maybe that wasn't so strange.

~~~~

Over the next few weeks, I managed to introduce Artemis to everyone I knew, and everyone had become pretty accustomed to seeing her at my side all the time. Mr. Jorden didn't seem to mind her sitting in on our recording sessions, and I think he'd actually started showing her how to use the soundboard.

Within two weeks of Artemis's memory being restored, Mr. Longbottom asked him to meet me in one of the visiting rooms of the secret-business building. I should have been expecting to see Nico there, but I wasn't. I only managed to stop glowering at him when Mr. Longbottom asked if I'd been listening and I realized I had not at all.

Apparently, because I'd been around for two out of the three successful memory restorations we'd had so far, I needed to be involved in all of them. Nico himself admitted that my bedside manner, so to speak, was significantly better than his, which was gratifying, even though I was already internally groaning at the thought of working with Nico again. Cassie was doing well enough, apparently, and Mr. Longbottom seemed to be betting that the incredibly vivid nightmares could be partially explained by the fact that she was a seer. Considering that, the next place to start with restoring memories was the rest of the children here. We weren't starting that today, because Mr. Longbottom wanted me to spend some time with them and their current guardians to help prepare them all for the ordeal, but apparently I wasn't going to be getting away from Nico anytime soon.

I'm proud to say that I did restrain myself from confronting Nico about him possibly obliviating Wren, but that was only because Mr. Longbottom was with us the whole time. I was pretty sure that the next time I saw him, I'd be shoving him into a wall as hard as I could and pressing my wand into his throat.

That week, I also got a surprise visit from Teddy. I was almost too excited to notice the grim look on his face, but once I did I remembered that "surprise visits" weren't really the DA's style. I braced myself for some bad news.

"Astra, no one's died." Teddy frowned at me with concern. "You look like I'm about to invite you to a funeral."

"You're obviously here for something, and your face is telling me it isn't something good." I crossed my arms, trying to cover the fear that was creeping through me with annoyance. "What is it?"

"It's not that bad, really. I just wanted to let you know that I'm back on a few missions. I didn't have time to let you know before the first one, but I knew you'd freak out if I didn't tell you. I don't want you to be concerned about me, because I'll be fine, okay?"

I took a step back even more wary now. "What kind of missions?"

"I'm really not supposed to say..."

"Why do you have to do them?"

"Astra, you know I'm the only metamorphmagus here." Teddy winced. "It's going to be fine. I've never been caught before, okay? And the first one went great."

I frowned at him for several seconds, then shook my head. "You can't tell me anything?"

"I mean, I'm not supposed to..." He leaned in and lowered his voice, even though we were the only ones in the room and the door was closed. "We've managed to infiltrate one of the detention centers, okay? There's a group of us. We're trying to get vulnerable prisoners out."

My mouth dropped open. "Are you out of your mind? Teddy! That's what got you put on Britain's most wanted list in the first place!"

"It's important, Astra." Teddy set his mouth into a grim line. "I promise, it'll be worth it. I can't say anymore now, but I wanted you to know what was going on. I love you, kiddo."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. Teddy pulled me into a hug anyway, and after a few seconds of his bear-hug, I relaxed a little. "I love you, too. Be safe, okay?"

"I will. I've got a lot of people I need to come home to, you know, between you and Gran and Toire and the girls. You'd all be really pissed if I didn't come home, so I can't let that happen."

"You'd better not."

Teddy ruffled my hair, smiling sadly at me. "I'll make it back. It'll all be okay. I promise."

~~~~

Question of the Day: What's the largest animal you think you could take in hand-to-hand combat?

Answer: Maybe a rabbit? I'm pretty weak, my friends.

Vote and comment!

~Elli

Word count: 7058